Indonesia Jan-May foreign direct investment rises

JAKARTA, June 16 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia rose 164 percent in the January-May period from a year ago, helped by strong investment in telecoms and transport, the state investment agency said on Monday.

The agency, also known as BKPM, said FDI rose to $9.78 billion in the first five months from $3.70 billion in the same period a year ago.

The telecommunications and transport sectors accounted for investments worth $6.55 billion. Comparative investment figures for the sectors for last year were not available.

"They are really promising industries," Muhammad Lutfi, the agency's chief, told reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary hearing.

"(But) in the next six to nine months investors may delay their investment, which were approved in 2007, as they have to recalculate the impact of the fuel price hike."

The government hiked subsidised fuel prices by about 30 percent on May 24, which analysts said may put more pressure on inflation and hurt growth due to weaker consumer spending.

The agency said domestic direct investment fell by 68 percent to 5.91 trillion rupiah ($634.1 million), which Lutfi said was due to the government's plan to hike fuel prices.

The BKPM data does not cover industries such as oil and gas, banking and insurance.

FDI rose 73 percent to $10.3 billion last year while domestic investment climbed almost 70 percent to 34.9 trillion rupiah on the back of political stability and strong economic growth. ($1 = 9,320 rupiah) (Reporting by Muhamad Al Azhari, editing by Sugita Katyal)