JAKARTA - The Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas, Suharso Monoarfa, emphasized the strengthening of Indonesia-France cooperation in low-carbon development, green and blue economy, as well as cooperation in financing the development of government projects.
This was conveyed when he received a visit from senior officials from The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and senior officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (French Treasury) at the Indonesian Embassy in Paris, France.
"The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas has prepared an economic transformation strategy. The AFD collaboration with the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas is one form of effort to implement Indonesia's economic transformation strategy, particularly the green economy," said Minister Suharso in his official statement, Saturday 3 July as reported by Antara.
In the meeting with AFD, Suharso continued, there was an understanding to strengthen cooperation in low-carbon development or a green economy with a focus on energy transition, waste management, green industry including green tourism. Several potential projects to be developed are the waste to energy project and AFD will also fully support Indonesia's steps in carrying out the pilot project declaring Bali as a blue island.
"The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas will facilitate potential projects to be financed by AFD loans, such as eco-fishing ports and mass transit programs, especially in Bandung and Medan," said Suharso.
AFD said that with the close cooperation between AFD and Indonesia and the number of cooperation projects and in order to increase operational flexibility, in the future the operations of the AFD representative office in Indonesia will operate as a separate institution from the French Embassy in Indonesia.
Then in a meeting with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (French Treasury), the French stated that in recent years the French Treasury loan facility had been implemented to finance the construction of television transmitters and the construction of the Meteorological System in Indonesia.
In the future, the Indonesian government will also consider financing from the French government for several government projects, considering that the cooperation in financing the development of the two countries through the French Treasury financing facility has existed for a long time.
“Several potential projects by the Government of Indonesia to be financed by the French Treasury include the National Data Center and the digitalization of broadcasting systems. The National Data Center project will be implemented in the near future,” said Suharso.
Minister Suharso Monoarfa encouraged French financing for the funding of Indonesian government projects to be more competitive than other sources of financing and also helped with technical readiness and capacity building for the recipients of these activities.
The French government also responded positively, especially in terms of the use of French technology such as Information and Communication Technology, namely satellite and radar. The French government also offers technical assistance in the preparation of projects using French technology.
Regarding the financing scheme, the French Treasury will try to negotiate with the syndicated banks so that the financing is more competitive as Suharso Monoarfa expects.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
