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Indonesia expands horizons to US for infrastructure funding
The government has set its sights on diversifying its funding sources for big ticket infrastructure projects to the United States after earlier this year proposing $91.1 billion infrastructure projects to be funded by China.
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Infrastructure race: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (third from right) inspects a section of a toll road construction project in Bogor, West Java, in this file picture. (JP/Ayomi Amindoni)
T
he government has set its sights on diversifying its funding sources for big ticket infrastructure projects to the United States after earlier this year proposing $91.1 billion infrastructure projects to be funded by China.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said Indonesia would be one of the first in the queue to participate in the US government’s development program designated for developing countries. The program will be under the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), which was mandated to be created by the 2018 BUILD Act.
The IDFC will finance infrastructure projects in emerging economies, a direct competition to China’s Belt Road Imitative (BRI), to counter China’s growing influence as the world’s two largest economies jolted the global economy with a trade war.
“I recently met with Jared Kushner and talked about a lot of cooperation [opportunities] between Indonesia and the United States,” said Luhut in the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, referring to his recent meeting with the senior adviser to US President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.
“They [the US government] want a better relation [with Indonesia] going forward,” added Luhut, whose coordinating ministry oversees energy, mining, tourism, transportation and fisheries affairs.
During his meeting with Kushner, who also leads the US government’s efforts in the Middle East peace process, Luhut said that the Indonesian government hoped to be involved in the peacebuilding efforts in the region, with outgoing Vice President Jusuf Kalla tapped as the government’s special envoy for peace missions.
“I asked him [Kushner] why Indonesia has not been included [in peace talks] as the nation with the world’s largest Muslim population? We eventually agreed to the inclusion of Indonesia at the table and President [Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo] appointed VP Jusuf Kalla to continue representing Indonesia in the peacebuilding process,” said Luhut.
