Vice President Jusuf Kalla launched on Friday the Indonesian Agency for International Development (Indo-AID), a body set up to manage an endowment fund for international assistance that is expected to pave the way for greater contributions to global peace and welfare.

As a country that is continually climbing up the ladder of economy, Kalla said it was important for Indonesia to build partnerships with other countries and help those that are in need, particularly through what he calls “helping hand diplomacy”.

"Global peace will be created if the economy [of each country] is improving. An agency like this is an important thing nowadays,” he said in a speech at the Foreign Ministry complex in Pejambon, Central Jakarta.

“It's not enough for us to only be a beneficiary [of aid]; it's time we think about what we can give and not what we can get.”

Indo-AID will be useful for helping other developing countries, particularly those that are dealing with social issues such as displacement and conflict, Kalla said.

As a public services body (BLU), the agency will operate under the auspices of the Finance Ministry’s Treasury Directorate General.

In accordance with Government Regulation No. 57/2019, the agency is duty bound to reform aid fund management for grants to other states and international institutions. Prior to this, the disbursement of funds was handled by different institutions and was without proper guidelines or a unifying policy, according to a press statement from the Finance Ministry.

The idea for the agency first emerged in 2017 from the Foreign Ministry, which said it would pool Rp 1 trillion (US$70.7 million) allocated from the 2018 state budget into an endowment fund that would benefit other countries through the South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) scheme, a framework for developing nations from Asia, Africa and the South Pacific.

The plan at the time was ultimately reworked due to an overlap in regulations from other ministries and government bodies.

Under the revamped framework, aid fund management will require cross-ministerial collaboration, with all substantial planning and policies related to the disbursement of funds to be coordinated and supervised by the Foreign Ministry, with help from the Finance Ministry, the State Secretariat and the National Development Agency (Bappenas).

Indo-AID currently manages a Rp 3 trillion endowment fund that is to be sourced annually from the state budget.

"The amount will be increased gradually over the years, [but] the government will use the interest from it for funds that are to be disbursed to countries in need,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told journalists on Friday.

The sum and use of the funds would be catered to fit the needs of each country, the minister said in response to a question about whether Indonesia was prioritizing certain sectors of assistance.

Ultimately, the fund will serve a higher purpose.

The aid will be disbursed in line with the country’s development agenda, which includes addressing climate change and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nations that are prone to and most impacted by natural disasters will top of the list of beneficiaries.

“There will be programmed aid and emergency aid," said Retno.

"The principles that Indonesia upholds are very clear. We want to sustainably contribute to global peace and welfare. Indo-AID is also a great tool for achieving the SDGs.”

This year, the government has disbursed aid to at least five countries in the South Pacific region — Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Nauru and Kiribati — as well as two countries from Southeast Asia: the Philippines and Myanmar.

At the launch ceremony, Vice President Kalla was also accompanied by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro.

The launch of Indo-AID marks the end of Kalla’s tenure as second-in-command to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who will be inaugurated alongside new No. 2 Ma’ruf Amin on Sunday.

"Today is my last day [in office]. It is my last speech. I want to thank everyone in the Foreign Ministry and other ministries for helping me these last five years," he said. (tjs)

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