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tate-run companies are set to spend more than half of their capital expenditures (capex) in the second semester of this year as many mega infrastructure projects are expected to kick off during the period, with the government working to speed up project implementation.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno implied on Wednesday that state enterprises would spend almost 60 percent of this year'€™s allocated capex in the July-December period of this year, a surge from only 37 percent in the first semester.

'€œWe'€™re upbeat that the capex can be absorbed 95 percent by year-end. We hope that cooperation with other ministries will help speed up a number of projects,'€ she said on Wednesday after a press conference on state budget realization.

The SOEs Ministry, according to Rini, will partner with the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry to work on land acquisitions for various projects, such as power plant and toll road projects.

For the 2,700-kilometer Trans-Sumatra highway, for example, the government has been gradually working on land acquisition for the toll road sections.

The government would also probably kick off transportation projects, such as high-speed trains and light rail transit (LRT) this year, Rini said.

The high-speed train project is set to be carried out by state-run railway company KAI and state-owned construction firm Wijaya Karya, to connect Jakarta and Bandung.

The LRT, meanwhile, will be developed by construction firm Adhi Karya once it has reaped fresh funds from its planned Rp 2.7 trillion (US$199.5 million)-preemptive rights issue and once a presidential regulation on the matter has been issued.

The realization of infrastructure projects is considered pivotal to boost the country'€™s economic growth as it would surge domestic consumption.

The country'€™s gross domestic product (GDP) growth hit 4.67 percent in the second quarter of this year, a slight decrease from 4.7 percent in the first quarter.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government expected that the country'€™s GDP growth would increase by at least 5.3 percent in the second half to give the country record a 5 percent growth by year-end.

The government'€™s capex spending stood at Rp 38.6 trillion as of the end of July, or around 14 percent of the allotted budget this year, Finance Ministry data has shown.

Meanwhile, state-owned companies '€” included as private sector in the state budget realization report '€” spent Rp 119.3 trillion of their capex in the first semester, or 37 percent of their planned total capex throughout this year, according to a report from the SOEs Ministry.

From the total state enterprises'€™ capex, 40.9 percent was from gas, steam and cold water procurement, 20.8 percent from mining and the remaining 38.3 percent from various projects, such as construction and transportation.

The report showed that most state enterprises'€™ capex in the first semester was used to finance their strategic projects to support the government'€™s development target stipulated in the state mid-term development plan.