Jakarta. An Emirati diplomat revealed Thursday that Indonesia had approached some businesses from his country to invest in President Prabowo Subianto’s program of building 3 million homes annually.

While they have yet to close the deal, the negotiations have been going great so far, according to UAE Ambassador to Indonesia Abdulla Salem AlDhaheri.

The Prabowo government promises to construct 2 million homes in villages each year, and another 1 million homes in the cities. The massive construction aims to ease Indonesia’s housing backlog -- a term referring to how many homes that the country is short of -- which currently stands at around 12.7 million units. 

Prabowo recently wrapped up his first-ever foreign trip with a visit to the UAE for some talks with his Emirati counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ). AlDhaheri revealed that the meeting also touched on Emirati businesses’ possible involvement in the housing program. He did not say the names of the Emirati companies that Indonesia had been nudging into helping build millions of affordable homes. But talks are underway. Deputy Housing Minister Fahri Hamzah -- who had tagged along with Prabowo on his UAE trip -- had even spoken with the prospective Emirati investors.

“The companies are not yet identified. … But he [Fahri] had conducted over 8 meetings with different entities in the UAE. I have arranged at least four [of those] meetings for him. We have discussed the outcomes. Fahri said he was very happy with the discussions that he had with those companies,” AlDhaheri told a press briefing at his Jakarta residence.

These Emirati investors also plan on heading to Indonesia to evaluate what the country’s housing sector really needs. This includes identifying which province the investors would want to work on, according to AlDhaheri.

“But we are positive,” he said.

Indonesia has previously dropped hints that they would look for international partners for the housing program. Gerindra Party senior official Hashim Djojohadikusumo not long ago revealed that he had met with potential investors from China and Qatar. Hashim -- who is also Prabowo’s younger brother -- claimed that China was ready to take part.

China is among Indonesia’s largest sources of foreign direct investment (FDI), reaching about $5.8 billion in January-September 2024. UAE, on the other hand, invested $22.8 million over the same period, while the FDI inflows from Qatar hit nearly $8.3 million, official government figures showed.