Lotte to expand investment in Indonesia

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin will meet Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during his three-day state visit to Korea which began Sunday.

According to a Lotte official, Sunday, Shin and Widodo will have a meeting at Lotte Hotel in central Seoul today, to discuss advancements of the group’s investment and business in the country.

President Widodo is expected to promise full support for the group’s advance into the country.

Lotte Group is currently operating a Lotte Department Store with two duty-free stores and 41 Lotte Marts as well as Angel-in-us cafes and Lotteria fast food restaurants in Indonesia.

Especially, Lotte Shopping Avenue that opened in the capital city of Jakarta in 2013 has reportedly gained huge popularity among Indonesians. Lotte Shopping Avenue is a shopping complex consisting of the group’s affiliates such as its department store, duty-free store and Lotteria.

In 2010, Lotte Group’s petrochemical unit Lotte Chemicals entered the Indonesian market by acquiring Southeast Asia’s leading petrochemical company Titan Chemicals.

Lotte Group also signed a memorandum of understanding with the country’s largest conglomerate Salim Group in a bid to enter Indonesia’s e-commerce market. The two groups are expected to establish a joint corporation by the end of this year and launch the service next year.

President Widodo is also expected to have a summit with President Park Geun-hye on the same day and meet other Korean businessmen. He is accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution and Trade Minister Thomas Lembong.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board Franky Sibarani came ahead of their president.

Widodo met with the Indonesian community in Korea at the Indonesian Embassy on Sunday morning.

Indonesia is now one of the world’s top ten manufacturing countries and a core member state of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) where over 2,200 Korean firms are conducting business.

Korea is reportedly the fifth-largest investor in Indonesia, with total investments reaching $1.2 billion while trade between the two countries peaked at $30 billion in 2011.