KIND explores involvement of Korean companies in Danantara's WtE project

South Korea’s overseas infrastructure and urban development corporation, KIND, is exploring the involvement of Korean companies in waste management and waste-to-energy (WtE) projects in Indonesia. This was conveyed by Park Sang Jin, Team Leader of KIND’s International Cooperation Team, during the ‘Indonesian Next-Generation Journalist Network’ programme organised by the Korea Foundation and the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia in Seoul on Wednesday (10/6). He stated that the effort follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between KIND and Danantara Indonesia in April 2026. ‘We are currently exploring the participation of Korean companies engaged in waste management and waste-to-energy to take part in this partnership between Indonesia and Korea,’ he said. Park explained that during the MoU signing, both parties introduced various investment projects from their respective countries through a co-investment scheme. According to him, KIND and Danantara also agreed to build a strategic and comprehensive partnership in the field of waste-to-energy processing. ‘We are currently planning to establish a sort of cooperation channel with our partners,’ he stated. KIND assessed that waste management and WtE projects require adequate regulatory and governance support. The agency, which operates under South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, believes that without adequate waste management regulations, companies will find it difficult to run such businesses sustainably in Indonesia. Therefore, KIND suggested that both parties move in parallel to prepare the project and its regulatory framework, while also providing certainty regarding profitability prospects for business actors. KIND and Danantara announced the signing of the MoU on 1 April 2026, coinciding with the state visit of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to South Korea. The cooperation aims to enhance collaboration on infrastructure and urban development projects in Indonesia and the surrounding region.