Jakarta. Indonesia's investment agency said it is ready to facilitate investment of Hon Hai Precision Industry, as the Taiwanese manufacturer for other companies prepares to set up operations in the Southeast Asia nation.

Mahendra Siregar, chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), told reporters on Tuesday that he recently met with representatives of Hon Hai, better known by its trading name, Foxconn Technology Group.

"They are in the process of submitting their licensing documents. From what I understand, they are now finalizing their selection for a plant location and local partner," Mahendra said on the sideline of the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index launch in Jakarta.

Agence France-Presse reported last week that Foxconn is planning to invest $1 billion for its plant in Indonesia. The company - known as the manufacturer of Apple's products including the iPhone and iPad - plans to produce various electronic devices in Indonesia. BlackBerry has said it will outsource some of its device production to Foxconn's plant in Indonesia.

Mahendra said he cannot provide a time frame for Foxconn to open its plant in Indonesia. "To get permits, we [BKPM] can finish that in a day or two. But if the company still wants some inputs or reviews on some aspects, we are ready to facilitate that," he said.

Mahendra said the scale of Foxconn's investment in Indonesia was "very large and complex" and he understood that the company would still want to discuss "some concerns," on which he did not elaborate.

Terry Gou, Foxconn chairman and chief executive, told media in Bali last year that the company was committed to setting up a local presence in 2014. He had said Foxconn was concerned about Indonesia's customs policy, where imports of handsets are cheaper than imports of components of handsets due to tariffs set on some electronic materials.

Mahendra encouraged big companies such as Foxconn to make investments in this country due to the "huge demand for smartphones and gadgets in Indonesia."

At the same meeting, Bank ANZ Indonesia and research company Roy Morgan Research said Indonesia continued to lead Asia in terms of consumer confidence. The bank released the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index in Indonesia on Tuesday. The survey was conducted on 2,010 respondents across Indonesia and will be done on a monthly basis.

According to the survey in January, most Indonesians are still confident about their personal finances in the next 12 months and believe it is a good time to purchase durable household appliances.

Glenn Maguire, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at ANZ, said Indonesia's demographics will continue to support personal spending. He said Indonesia's middle class was estimated at 75 million people and said it was expected to double within a decade.

"It means that there will be an additional 7 million [members of the] consumer class every year, which is more than any country in Asia," Maguire said.

By Francezka Nangoy

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