Source: Reuters.com                   Date: 05 August, 2010

China Investment Corp (CIC) may invest up to USD25 billion in Indonesia, a minister of Southeast Asia's biggest economy has said, a move that will help the fund secure resources in a country hungry for foreign financing. China's USD300-billion sovereign fund is initially ploughing USD2 billion into coal, electricity and port projects in the world's largest exporter of coal for power plants, Indonesia's State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said, although he gave no timeframe for the investments.

Indonesia also has abundant palm oil, copper and timber -- resources in strong demand in China, which has stepped up investments in resource assets from Australia to Canada to fuel its growth. CIC invested USD58 billion overseas last year, after sitting on a large cash pile in 2008, and a lot of its investments were in sectors where Indonesia is strong, such as natural resources and agriculture. It had 28.4 percent of its diversified equity portfolio in Asia-Pacific at the end of 2009, according to its annual report.