Xinhua | 2009-03-12

The United Arab Emirates plans to invest up to 700 billion U.S. dollars in East Asia as the country had huge profits from soaring oil prices in recent years, Head of the Indonesian Capital Investment Coordinating Board Muhammad Lutfi said in Jakarta Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates plans to invest up to 700 billion U.S. dollars in East Asia as the country had huge profits from soaring oil prices in recent years, Head of the Indonesian Capital Investment Coordinating Board Muhammad Lutfi said in Jakarta Thursday.

The country has been looking for alternative places to invest its capital, said Lutfi.

A delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed met with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta to talk about the opportunity to invest in the Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Among the sectors for possible investment discussed by the two leaders were energy, agriculture, tourism, food security and others, said Lutfi, adding that "They have money and now they are looking for alternatives for investment, they want to go to the East."

"Their policy, after the economic crisis, is to step up trade and investment in the East, including Indonesia, China and Japan," Kalla told reporters after the meeting.