Government to Expand Role of Investment Agency
Monday, 22 January, 2007 | 16:40 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government is going to expand the role of the Government Investment Agency.

According to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, initially, the Government Investment Agency only received a mandate of granting investment bail-out funds for infrastructure projects that used public-private partnership methods.

In the future, the institution will not only focus on aiding infrastructure projects, but also on investing in telecommunication, energy, clean water, irrigation, waste or garbage management sectors.

She went on to say that the Government Investment Agency will also develop access on financing services for people's business activities relating with the improvement of services on state enterprises, region-owned enterprises or joint partners in development projects.

“Clearly, the Government Investment Agency prioritizes accountability and good governance,” she said yesterday (01/21) in Jakarta.

In both the 2006 Revised State Budget and the 2007 State Budget, the agency obtained funds of Rp2 trillion from each.

The funds are allocated for accelerating infrastructure development in Indonesia.

She stressed that the potential financing sources of the Government Investment Agency would not only come from State Budget.

The government will also invite banks as well as domestic or foreign private investment agencies to finance the agency.

“Together with the government, they will later collect and manage the investment funds,” she said.

The government hopes that the agency can boost and speed up development in several sectors, mainly those where implementation has been financially delayed due to complex bureaucracy.

Anton Aprianto