The Ministry Of Public Works Explores Financing Opportunities Of IDR 4.1 Trillion From AIIB To Work On Irrigation Projects

PU Minister Dody Hanggodo during a meeting with AIIB President Jin Liqun. Photo: Doc. Ministry of Public Works

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) together with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) discussed opportunities for strategic cooperation in supporting the implementation of the national development agenda in the next five years.

One of them is the construction of irrigation services with a loan of 250 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp4.10 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp. 16,409).

The projects are Modernization of Strategic Irrigation and Urgent Rehabilitation (SIMURP) which is currently underway. The discussion was held at the meeting of the Minister of Public Works Dody Hanggodo and President AIIB Jin Liqun at the Office of the Ministry of Public Works, Jakarta, Monday, March 10.

"The 250 million US dollar project aims to improve irrigation services through rehabilitation, revitalization and modernization of water resources and irrigation systems," said Dody in an official statement quoted on Wednesday, March 12.

Dody said the SIMURP project also includes institutional strengthening and increasing operational management capacity as well as irrigation infrastructure maintenance.

AIIB's involvement as one of the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) in government priority projects is expected to run on the basis of mutual benefits and mutual responsibility.

"This approach is believed to be able to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the use of foreign loans distributed for strategic infrastructure projects," he said.

He also expressed his appreciation to AIIB for the long-standing partnership and had a positive impact on infrastructure development in Indonesia.

Furthermore, Dody hopes that this cooperation can continue to develop and be expanded to various parts of Indonesia, especially to areas with a high level of disaster risk.

This is necessary so that Indonesia has better funding readiness in dealing with emergency situations and natural disasters. Thus, the government's response to mitigating and post-disaster recovery can be faster and more effective.

The previous collaboration between the Ministry of Public Works and AIIB has also succeeded in completing the City Without Slums (Kotaku) program in the 2017-2023 period. The program runs with a total investment of up to 207 million US dollars.

"This program has succeeded in improving the quality of urban settlements, especially in slum areas through the development of basic infrastructure and encouraging active community involvement in the planning process to implementation," concluded Dody.