Japanese car-maker Daihatsu plans to increase investment in Indonesia by 70 million US dollars in a bid to boost production, bringing the total additional investment this year alone to 80 million US dollars, a local daily reported Friday.

The additional investment is aimed at increasing production in its local unit PT Astra Daihatsu Motor to 150,000 units by 2007 from the current capacity of 114,000, reported Bisnis Indonesia.

Daihatsu in Indonesia already achieved its 1 millionth production in July.

Earlier in April, Astra Daihatsu raised investment by 10 million US dollars in its efforts to boost production capacity from 78,000 units to 114,000 units with additional workers of 700 people.

The latest investment plan is expected to make 1,500 new jobs, said the newspaper.

"The increased investment by Daihatsu proves that foreign investors still have confidence towards Indonesia's business climate," Minister of Industry Andung Nitimiharja was quoted as saying.

Indonesia's top five automakers in sale volume in 2004 included Toyota with 141,944 units, Mitsubishi 89,590, Suzuki 82,242, Daihatsu 47,623 and Honda 46,500.

Source: Xinhua