ADB approves 2 loans worth US$115m to RI

ADB approves 2 loans worth US$115m to RI

MANILA (DPA): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday it
has approved two loans worth US$115 million to fund a rural
development project in Indonesia that would benefit more than one
million people.

The Manila-based ADB said it will also provide a 1.1 million
dollar technical assistance grant to promote good government and
sound fiscal management practices in the project areas to ensure
transparency and accountability.

The loans, consisting of $50 million from the bank's
concessional fund and $65 million from its ordinary fund, will be
used to form and train 750 community-based savings and loan
organizations to make credit accessible for small businesses.

The project, which will focus on six provinces in the less-
developed outer islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, will also
develop various infrastructure to "link villages to markets in
the urban centers".

"The project will prepare communities for the impending
decentralization and provide hands-on training through activities
such as constructing small civil works," said Antonio Perez, ADB
mission leader for the project.

The ADB said the project will generate about 185,000 jobs and
increase income for 425,000 people, most of whom live below the
poverty line.

Some 4,500 community leaders will be trained to support the
decentralization process, while 1,770 government workers will
receive formal training for diploma, bachelors and post-graduate
degrees, locally and abroad.

The bank said women will make up at least half of the
participants in community and micro-enterprise training.