Investment in Indonesia is an opportunity that must be seized with its perfect storm of market, demographics, resources and stability, according to the head of the country’s Investment Coordinating Board on Wednesday.

“This is a country that you cannot miss because the market is there, the growing middle class is there, the natural resources are there and the political stability is there,” said Chairman Muhammad Chatib Basri.

Basri went on to explain, on the sidelines of the Indonesia Integrated Investment Promotion event, that the country has both the biggest economy and population of the ASEAN region. The country’s economy accounts for roughly 48 percent of the total 10-nation economy, while its accounts for 42 percent of the total population of the region. And what makes the fourth largest population in the world even more attractive is the boom it is experiencing.

“The average age for Indonesian workers is about 29-years-old,” the newly appointed chairman said during an interview with The Korea Herald.

The archipelago also has a plethora of natural resources including crude oil, tin, copper, gold and even boasts that it is one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas.

It is for these reasons that Korean investors are already hopping over to Indonesia, shooting up investment over the past two years. According to Basri, investment by Korean companies quadrupled from $300 million in 2010 to $1.2 billion in 2011. In the first quarter of this year Koreans have invested some $500 million, making Korea the third largest investor for Indonesia this year, behind Singapore and Japan.

And Korean interest in the country is growing, indicated by the number of leads the chairman saw during the event hosted by the Indonesian Embassy on Wednesday.

“I didn’t expect that within two hours I would have six one-on-one meetings, so the potential, the appetite is really there.”

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)