P

T Indonesia Infrastructure Finance (IIF) is set to provide long-term financing amounting to Rp 4 trillion (US$332 million) next year to help develop the country'€™s infrastructure sector, an executive says.

IIF vice president legal and corporate secretary Nastantio W. Hadi said the funding would be directed at the development of hydroelectric power plants, gas-fired power plants, telecommunication projects, toll roads and airports across the archipelago.

'€œCurrently, we are looking at various projects, including airport expansions recently offered to the private sector by the Transportation Ministry. Even though they are smaller airports located in third-tier cities, they have strong potential to grow and develop [the economy of] the regions,'€ Nastantio said on Thursday.

The Transportation Ministry is seeking public private partnerships (PPPs) for 10 airports operated by the ministry'€™s technical management unit (UPT), such as Fatmawati Soekarno Airport in Bengkulu, Tjilik Riwut Airport in Central Kalimantan, Komodo Airport in East Nusa Tenggara and Sentani Airport in Papua.

Nastantio said the firm wanted to expand its financing to port infrastructure as ports were crucial to help reduce logistical costs as well as to increase trade flow.

IIF is currently conducting studies on possible ports to be financed next year.

From January to November this year, Nastantio said, the firm had financed a number of projects worth Rp 2 trillion, including the 116-kilometer Cikampek'€“Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in West Java, a key component of the Trans-Java toll road network connecting Java'€™s economic centers Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java.

The company plans to close the 2013 financial year by financing Rp 2.7 trillion in investments.

'€œWe recently signed financing commitments for three projects, which are an airport as well as a hydropower and a gas power plant,'€ Nastantio continued, refusing to disclose the projects specifically.

IIF is a non-bank financial institution that receives financial support from the Indonesian government and international financial agencies, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Indonesian government has pledged to develop a number of major infrastructure projects within the country as part of its goal to become one of the top five global economic forces by 2025.

The blueprint for this agenda was established in the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia'€™s Economic Development (MP3EI), which is estimated to cost around Rp 4,000 trillion through to 2025.