President Prabowo Subianto attended the Japan-Indonesia Business Forum in Tokyo on Monday, March 30, 2026, where 10 business-to-business agreements worth a combined USD 22.6 billion were concluded between companies from both countries. The visit, which ran from March 29 to 31, 2026, marked Prabowo’s first official state visit to Japan as president and his 49th overseas trip since taking office in October 2024 — covering 28 countries across five continents in under 18 months. The agreements span a range of strategic sectors, from deepwater gas development and clean energy to semiconductors, aviation finance, and inclusive financial services — reflecting a deliberate push by Jakarta to deepen the economic relationship with one of its longest-standing and most significant investment partners.
Key Facts & Background
- The 10 agreements consist of MoUs and strategic cooperation agreements covering clean energy downstream development including carbon-based methanol production, oil and gas exploration, geothermal power development, and financial ecosystem strengthening.
- Key deals include: a strategic cooperation agreement for the development of the Abadi Gas Field at Blok Masela between PT Pertamina and INPEX; an MoU between PT Pertamina Hulu Energi and INPEX for upstream oil and gas partnership opportunities across Indonesia and Southeast Asia; and an MoU on semiconductor ecosystem development — covering electronic chip design, manufacturing, and AI — between PT Eblo Teknologi Indonesia and Hayashi Kinzoku Co., Ltd.
- Additional agreements include a collaboration between PT Pegadaian and SMBC Indonesia to develop Indonesia’s gold ecosystem and financial inclusion, the formation of a Mandiri Aviation Leasing Fund involving Danantara, Mandiri Investment Management, and SMBC Aviation Capital, and an investment cooperation strengthening between JETRO and Danantara Investment Management.
- The Kadin Indonesia–Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry MoU covering trade, commerce, and investment was also formally signed, alongside a geothermal power project MoU for the Rajabasa site between PT Supreme Energy Rajabasa and INPEX.
- Total trade volume between Indonesia and Japan reached USD 35.6 billion as of end-2024, with Indonesian exports of USD 20.7 billion generating a trade surplus of USD 5.7 billion. Japanese FDI into Indonesia reached USD 3.46 billion in 2024 — a 52% increase over three years.
- Across all of Prabowo’s overseas visits since taking office, cumulative investment commitments have surpassed USD 70 billion — though observers note that commitments and disbursements are two different things, and that follow-through depends heavily on domestic ministerial coordination.
Note: Multi-source AI data analytics, with the possibility of inaccuracies.
Insights
The USD 22.6 billion in deals signed in Tokyo is a notable achievement, but it comes with an important caveat that has followed almost every big investment announcement under President Prabowo: signing an agreement and actually receiving the money are two very different things. Since taking office, Prabowo has racked up over USD 70 billion in investment commitments across 49 overseas trips — a number that sounds impressive, but Indonesia has historically only been able to absorb USD 50–60 billion in foreign investment per year. The gap between what gets announced and what gets built is a real and recurring issue.
That said, not all of the Tokyo deals are paper promises. The Pertamina-INPEX partnership on the Masela gas block and the aviation leasing fund involving Danantara and SMBC are built on existing business relationships with concrete project plans behind them — these are more likely to move forward than a brand-new agreement with no history. The range of sectors covered — gas, geothermal, gold, semiconductors, and aviation finance — also shows that Indonesia is trying to use its relationship with Japan to grow new industries, not just deepen old ones.
The semiconductor deal, however, deserves a reality check. Indonesia does not yet have a chip-making industry, and turning an MoU with a Japanese metals company into actual electronics manufacturing requires serious investment in infrastructure, training, and policy support — none of which is in place at scale yet. The Tokyo forum shows that diplomatic momentum is there. Whether it translates into real projects will become clearer over the next one to two years.