Italy provides $26m grant for Aceh

JAKARTA: Italy, one of the world's richest countries, has given a 10.15 million euro (US$26 million) grant to fund its emergency program for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Francesco M. Greco said in Jakarta.

The program, which is also known as a "full-aid package" is aimed at supporting vulnerable sections of the community, and the health, education, agriculture, fishing and housing sectors in the tsunami-affected areas of Aceh.

"It's an Italian bilateral contribution to Indonesia," Greco told The Jakarta Post on Thursday while adding that Italy had also given 5 million euros to Indonesia through multilateral channels.

Italy has also agreed to a debt swap of $31 million for development activities in Indonesia.

The unique thing about the emergency program, according to Greco, is that the Italian Embassy directly handles all the programs and finances them.

"But we work closely with the central government as well as local authorities in implementing these programs. We also have our experts on the ground to assess each and every program," Greco said.

The program will be mainly implemented in Aceh Besar, Pidie, and Bireuen regencies. -- JP