UK keen on helping RI’s environment agenda

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 07/24/2010 9:29 AM

The United Kingdom is committed to helping Indonesia tackle the impacts of climate change by providing environmentally friendly technological assistance, the Indonesian government says.

Following a closed-door meeting with visiting Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Jeremy Browne, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Radjasa said Friday that the commitment was a follow up to an earlier agreement with the UK government, which touched on, among others, the use of carbon capture storage in Indonesia.

“We are still discussing the implementation of the commitment,” Hatta said, adding that the two countries were also exploring other areas of cooperation on climate change.

Browne is the first UK government minister to visit Indonesia since a new administration took office earlier in May.

Hatta said Browne praised Indonesia’s achievements during the reform era. “Indonesia is moving forward. It has achieved many significant changes,” Hatta said quoting Browne.

Reform programs that had been carried out by the government made Indonesia more attractive as an investment destination to UK businesses, Hatta said, further citing Browne.

The Coordinating Economy Ministry said total UK investment in Indonesia reached US$587.7 million for 61 projects in 2009, higher than 2008’s $513.4 million for 58 projects.

Total trade between Indonesia and the UK decreased from $2.6 billion in 2008 to $2.3 billion in 2009, with Indonesian exports worth $1.4 billion and imports around $844 million.

Hatta said the UK trusted Indonesia’s ability to preserving natural resources and the ecosystem.

“In this context, I hope you still remember Prince Charles cited Jambi as a model in preserving wildlife and allocating funds to support this project. It shows UK government’s trust in our efforts,” he said.

In November 2008, the Prince of Wales visited the Harapan Rainforest project in Batanghari regency, designed to restore the forest’s ecosystem and save endangered species. It was developed by a consortium consisting of Burung Indonesia, International Bird Life and the London-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The project, which operates in more than 50,000 hectares of forest, is part of the Prince’s Rainforest Project.

Hatta said infrastructure was a key topic discussed with Browne on the development of investments.

In a meeting at the Coordinating Economy Ministry on Thursday, the ministry asked the National Land Body (BPN) to accelerate the drafting of a law on land development for the public, he said.

“We will speed up infrastructure development because we truly understand that the bottlenecks are related to it,” he said, adding that investors saw a lack of infrastructure as the biggest obstacle while talking about public private partnerships (PPP).

In a recent statement, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Gita Wirjawan said the government aimed to attract Rp 163 trillion ($18.09 billion) in investments this year due to an improved investment climate.

According to the board’s Blue Book, the government is targeting investments of about Rp 200 trillion to Rp 300 trillion per year, leading to a total Rp 1,500 trillion in domestic and foreign direct investments in five years.

Gita said he believed that about Rp 450 trillion of the total targeted investment could be achieved in the next two or three years, most of which would prioritize infrastructure projects. Most potential investors came from the Middle East and Asia, including Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China and India. (ebf)

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