French aid to Indonesia

French aid to Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): The French government agreed here yesterday to provide soft loans amounting to 671 million French francs (US$138 million) to Indonesia.

The agreement was made in line with the French commitment made during the July meeting of the Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI) in Paris.

The French embassy said in a statement that the soft loans would be used to finance infrastructure and equipment projects, particularly in the fields of communications and health care.

The soft loans signed by French Ambassador Thierry de Beauce and the acting director general for economic affairs of the foreign ministry, Rusli Suryoatmodjo, will also be used to finance projects related to the computerization of administrative services.

The ambassador also signed an agreement for five million French francs in grants to be provided in the form of technical assistance.

France has been the second largest bilateral donor to Indonesia over the last 15 years, with disbursements of up to 14 billion French francs. (hen)