Green Growth Program to Attract $100b of Green Investment to Indonesia by 2019
Jakarta. After three years of the Green Growth Program's first phase, the Global Green Growth Institute and the Indonesian government are ready to move on to the second phase of the project: attracting green investors to Indonesia.
The Green Growth Program (GGP) was introduced to Indonesia in November 2013 in an attempt to kickstart sustainable green economy in Indonesia. The program tries to attract investment in energy, green infrastructure within special economic zones and forest recovery.
The second phase of the program will focus on attracting green investors to Indonesia in seven sectors: agriculture, forestry, renewable energy, geothermal power, tourism, fishery and clean manufacturing.
"We need more private sector investment to sustain our high growth rate, keep deficit stable and reduce dependence on government spending," the head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Bambang Brodjonegoro, said in Jakarta on Wednesday (31/08).
According to Bambang, the country needs to adopt an innovative approach to reach the target of $100 billion in green investment by 2019.
"We need a new approach, one that offers innovative solutions based on efficient use of resources, clean production and social inclusion — that's what we call green growth," Bambang said.
According to Bambang, Indonesia needs to tap into the $65 billion-worth green bond market to attract investment in clean energy production, climate-resilient infrastructure, sustainable fishery, ecotourism and smart cities.
Global Green Growth Institute director general Yvo de Boer said Indonesia is the most successful country in the Green Growth Program so far, thanks to long-running partnerships with local governments and non-governmental organizations.
In recent years, according to Boer, developing countries have been attracting a higher number of renewable investment than industry-focused countries.
"We live in a world where investors concentrate on short-term goals of quarterly figures, while most people have to face long-term challenges every day," Boer said, though he did point out that most development banks tend to offer loans for long-term renewable projects.
The government of Norway, meanwhile, has promised to invest $18.5 million-worth of technical expertise during the second phase of the program.
"We are an enthusiastic supporter of GGP in Indonesia, especially because we saw the exact opposite of green growth last year," Norwegian Ambassador Stig Traavik said.
In the first phase of the program, the GGP team created a national green growth roadmap, promoted green growth practices in East and Central Kalimantan and funded two pilot projects in Gunung Raya and Pulang Pisau in Central Kalimantan.
The second phase of the GGP is due to be completed in 2019.
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