Indonesia Offers $42b in Infrastructure Projects During IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings
Nusa Dua. Indonesia offered investment opportunities worth $42 billion in infrastructure projects and tourism to delegates attending the 2018 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali, over the past week.
A total of 79 projects, as well as various products, ranging from traditional handicrafts to aircraft, were on display at the Indonesia Pavilion, a 2,000-square-meter bamboo structure in the front of the main venue.
Aloysius K. Ro, deputy for restructuring and business development at the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, said the government is eager to attract local and foreign companies to invest in these projects, because state companies need more funding to realize the country's development targets.
"Through strategic partnerships between state-owned companies and the private sector, it is hoped that there will be a sharing of expertise in infrastructure development, with quality that is in accordance with global standards," Aloysius said in a statement on Friday.
The government has set an electrification target of 99.9 percent by the end of next year. It also seeks to extend the national toll road network to 1,794 kilometers, increase seaport cargo capacity to 34.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units per year, and boost airport capacity to 235 million passengers per year by the end of 2019.
"We will ensure consistent implementation of basic infrastructure projects and encourage infrastructure improvements," Aloysius said.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said earlier in the week that Indonesia was adopting a new paradigm in developing its infrastructure by involving both state-owned and private-sector companies to jointly finance infrastructure projects.
The scheme, known as blended finance, promises immense potential for investors, particularly in more profitable projects. It has attracted interest from companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"PricewaterhouseCoopers's 2018 annual report predicting that Indonesia will be the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2050, has attracted keen interest from many Middle Eastern groups eyeing the immense opportunities offered by impressive economic development in Indonesia," said Rahman Al-Saeed, a board member of wealth advisory firm Heritage Amanah International.
On Thursday, 14 state-owned enterprises secured $13.5 billion in investments from foreign partners, local banks and firms in 21 of the 79 projects.
These include a $900 million deal between GMF AeroAsia (the aircraft maintenance arm of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia), Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, and China Communication Construction Indonesia.
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