Japan to invest $52.9 bln in Indonesia infrastructure

Reuters Africa, By Aditya Suharmoko and Janeman Latul, Fri Oct 22, 2010

• Mix of private investment, loans, grants over 15 years
• Projects include ports and power plants

JAKARTA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indonesia has received $52.9 billion of investment commitments from Japan over the next 15 years to develop the country's infrastructure, Indonesia's chief economics minister Hatta Rajasa said on Friday.

The deal comes as Indonesia's government is in the midst of a long-promised infrastructure improvement campaign needed to help sustain growth momentum in its booming economy.

The government, which says it can only fund about a third of an estimated $140 billion of infrastructure needs in thenext five years, hopes improved transport links and power supply will attract further long-term foreign direct investment.

"There are 44 projects, 14 projects for 2010-2014 and 30 projects for 2015-2025," Rajasa said, adding the first phase of development will connect east Sumatra and northwest Java.

He said the first 14 projects include ports at Dumai and Lampung Panjang, a north Sumatra coal-fired power plant and electricity infrastructure in northern Sumatra island, a key producer of commodities such as coal, tin and palm oil.

The projects will be funded from a combination of private investment, loans, and grants, Rajasa said.

BETTING ON GROWTH

Japan, which is also funding a metro line in traffic-choked Jakarta, committed the investments to capitalise on a growth trajectory that it lacks at home, analysts said.

"They're barely growing domestically and they are looking to put their money into emerging markets like us in order to get a boost for their economy -- infrastructure investments have reoccurring stable income," said Chandra Pasaribu, infrastructure analyst at PT Danareksa Securities in Jakarta.

"Such commitments from the government are also benefiting Japanese companies because they will get the projects where they plan to give loans or grants."

Thanks to increased political stability and resilient growth, Indonesia's government has seen much more investor interest in long-term projects recently, and expects foreign direct investment (FDI) to jump 22 percent in 2010 from a year ago.

Higher FDI would help stabilise its long-term finances and improve its chances of getting an investment grade sovereign rating, a status that would put it on a par with BRIC nations such as Brazil and lower government borrowing costs.

South Korean firms and steel giant ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote) are considering investments in Indonesia, while Chinese wealth fund CIC is interested in investing up to $25 billion, government officials have said.

"Japan is slightly different to China," Pasaribu said. "They put more focus on high-tech projects while China is more focused on low-end ones."

(Writing by Joseph Chaney; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)