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SMF, JHF join hands to help quake victims

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, which displaced hundreds of people, state-owned secondary mortgage financing firm Sarana Multigriya Finansial (SMF) seeks to learn from its Japanese counterpart to help victims of natural disasters revitalize their damaged homes

Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, August 14, 2018

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SMF, JHF join hands to help quake victims

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n the wake of the devastating earthquake in Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, which displaced hundreds of people, state-owned secondary mortgage financing firm Sarana Multigriya Finansial (SMF) seeks to learn from its Japanese counterpart to help victims of natural disasters revitalize their damaged homes.

The firm signed on Monday a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the Japan Housing Finance Agency (JHF), which is experienced in handling and supporting victims to finance housing recovery in disaster areas in Japan through a curated program.

SMF president director Ananta Wiyogo said a program to finance post-disaster housing recovery could potentially be implemented in Indonesia.

“We hope we can learn about their business model and how they handle housing [financing] in disaster-hit areas. It is relevant since there are many earthquakes in Indonesia, and the JHF has experience in financing and revitalizing housing after a disaster in an efficient way,” Ananta said after the signing on Monday.

As a housing finance agency in a country prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, the JHF has programs that support the restoration of houses destroyed by natural disaster.

In 2016, for example, the JHF actively helped in financing housing recovery for homes affected by the Kumamoto earthquake, which struck in April 2016. The agency channeled 1.8 billion yen (US$16.3 million) as a housing recovery loan.

“We became the lender and lent money to people such as those who are affected by the earthquake. It is also in line with the Japanese government’s target that wants a quick recovery from disaster,” said Yuji Date, the director general at the JHF’s international affairs and research department, during the same
occasion.

Date said the JHF, which borrowed funds from the government, implemented a low-interest rate of nearly zero percent for the victims.

The agency also operates a one-stop consultation service for victims of natural disaster with themes on housing loans, financial planning and housing planning.

“Cooperation with SMF is a two-way relationship. We provide information, techniques and our experience to SMF, and we do hope SMF can also share their experience,” he said.

The Finance Ministry’s state assets director general, Isa Rachmatawarta, said the JHF’s business model for housing restoration could be beneficial to Indonesia.

“Now, if we assess the relation between SMF and Lombok’s earthquake […] SMF can’t [help further] aside from providing CSR [corporate social responsibility programs]. However, if we have a system just like what has been implemented in Japan, it would be great,” he said.

The MoC between SMF and the JHF would see the two share knowledge and information and conduct a joint research on policy and programs related to housing financing in both countries.

The joint research and knowledge sharing will cover several topics including financial instruments for financing, a comparative study on financing systems between the two countries and identifying potential, problems and challenges in housing financing.

“In this first year of cooperation, we aim to share knowledge with one another. But we hope that this cooperation can lead to further cooperation such as in financing,” said SMF’s Ananta.

As a state-owned company, SMF has channeled a total of Rp 41.97 trillion in housing loans from 2006 to June 2018. In the first semester of this year, the firm disbursed Rp 4.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, the JHF as an independent administrative agency in Japan focuses on primary and secondary financing for housing, including mortgage, asset management, securitization and direct mortgage or disaster migration urban rehabilitation.

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