NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The Asian Development Bank pledged its support for Indonesia’s development plan and is committed to disburse at least $1.5 billion in loans to the country to help fund various infrastructure projects, the multilateral lender’s president said on Tuesday.

ADB president Takehiko Nakao said the lender’s future support for Indonesia will be closely tied with the government’s five-year national development plan, which means the support will mainly go to infrastructure sector, achieving food and energy security.

The president of the Manila-based multilateral lender was in Jakarta where he was scheduled to meet with President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla as well as with some senior cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro.

“There are so many projects [that will be financed],” Nakao said, adding that the projects include infrastructure in water resource management for farms, sanitation infrastructure and energy sector.

Indonesia needs more than $500 billion over the next five years to develop public infrastructure including ports, airports and roads in a bid to boost connectivity in the archipelago nation.