I

ndonesia will offer at least US$5 billion of infrastructure projects for financing in a high-profile public-private partnerships (PPP) conference in Jakarta in April,  a senior government official says.

“We estimate $5 billion [of projects] can be offered during the four-day conference,” Bastary Pandji Indra, director of PPPs at the National Development Planning Agency  (Bappenas), said  in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The projects include the construction of a 2x1,000-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Pemalang, Central Java, requiring between $2.5 and $3.0 billion; coal-transporters and a railway in Central Kalimantan connecting Purukcahu and Bangkuang needing about $1.3 billion; a railway connecting Manggarai and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport requiring $800 million; a waste management facility in Bandung, West Java, costing $30 million; and a yacht basin in Bali requiring $30 million.

The 2010 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on PPPs for Infrastructure Development which will be held at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Jakarta from April 14 to April 17 is supported by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in association with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set to attend the high-profile conference.

UNESCAP’s 56 member countries are expected to participate.

Dedy S. Priatna, deputy of Infrastructure at Bappenas, told reporters Indonesia would need about Rp 407.11 trillion ($43.97 billion) via PPP arrangements for the development of infrastructure projects to be built under PPP schemes in the 2010-2914 period. He estimated Indonesia would need up to Rp 2,000 trillion in total to finance infrastructure development during this five-year period.

The 2x1,000-MW power plant project in Pemalang has attracted a number of potential investors, said Hongjoo Hahm, the leading infrastructure specialist at the World Bank. “Interest has already been indicated,” he said, adding that the bank and the government already have about $3 million to conduct the preliminary study of the project.

Bappenas said it has received 80 projects to be included in the PPP book, which will be ready to print on March 15. There may be more projects to come before the Feb. 28 deadline, which will be sorted by Bappenas based on project feasibility studies, said Dedy. He said the projects include terminals, ports, clean water facilities and toll roads.

National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana said the government would ensure only feasible projects are included in the PPP book. “So when potential investors come, it will be clear which are potential projects, priority projects, ready-to-offer projects,” she said.

She said the government has revised the presidential regulation on PPPs, which offers better terms to the private sector. She also hoped that the new regulation would encourage investors to come to Indonesia.