ADB: Indonesia Needs US$570 Billion for Infrastructures
27 February 2015 19:42 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thierry de Longuemar, Vice President of Finance and Risk Management at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), revealed that more than two billion people in Asia have no access to either electricity, clean water and acceptable sanitation facilities.
Longuemar said in an international conference themed "Access Asia Making Connection" held by HSBC and Asia House in London on Thursday, February 26, 2015, that Asia would need an investment of US$8 trillion by 2020. Indonesia, he added would need an investment of US$570 billion.
According to Longuemar, Asian countries are facing a huge challenge in infrastructures. Indonesia, for instance, is projected to lose three to four percent of its GNP due to poor infrastructure.
Coordinating Economic Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Luky Eko Wuryanto said that the Indonesian government has reallocated fuel subsidy to productive sectors, such as infrastructure.
"The allocation for infrastructure increased significantly by 250 percent compared to last year," Luky said.
According to Luky, the Indonesian government would be able to finance less than 50 percent of the infrastructure projects in the country. Therefore, the government called on private sectors to accomplish the rest.
Luky also explained that the government would require Rp 1,000 trillion (around US$83.3 billion) per year to build infrastructures. The government is expecting to acquire half of the fund from private companies.
VISHNU JUWONO (LONDON)
