Top! Japan Again Disburses Rp2.68 Billion in Grants for Indonesia
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Government of Japan has again channelled a grant to Indonesia under the Grassroots Grant Assistance for Human Security scheme. This time, the grant of 25 million yen, or around Rp2.68 billion, was allocated to support education and health projects in three Indonesian regions.
Charge d’Affaires ad Interim at the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia, Mitsuru Myochin, explained that the education and health sectors are the main focus of Japan’s assistance because they are closely linked to the concept of human security, i.e., people being able to live with dignity.
“We attach great importance to what we call human security, that is, for people to live with dignity. Therefore, education and health are very important, especially for communities in rural areas,” Mitsuru said after the signing of the grant agreement at the Embassy of Japan in Jakarta, on Thursday (5 March 2026).
He said that needs in these two sectors remain very large in various regions of Indonesia, particularly at the grassroots level.
“We realise that the needs in these areas are vast. Therefore we are focusing on these sectors. We believe this type of assistance is very much needed by grassroots communities,” he added.
Three Grant Recipient Projects
In the second period of the 2025 financial year, three projects received the grant. The projects were selected through a competitive process and are aimed at improving the quality of education and health services at the community level.
The first project is the construction of a school building for Pusat Kegiatan Belajar Masyarakat (PKBM) Sirfah in Flores Timur Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The grant for this project amounts to 9.5 million yen, or about Rp1.02 billion. The funds will be used to build two new school buildings with a total of four classrooms and facilities for clean water.
PKBM Sirfah has, to date, provided free education for people who dropped out of school so they can obtain a primary or upper secondary diploma. However, teaching and learning activities have been hampered as the centre does not own its own classrooms and must borrow space from other schools at times.
The second project is the procurement of medical equipment for Marianum Halilulik Catholic Hospital in Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. The grant worth 6.4 million yen, or about Rp695 million, will be used to provide medical equipment such as one blood incubator, one plasma separator, and 20 sets of medical beds produced in Japan.
Currently, the hospital can only serve around 40% of patients needing blood transfusions due to equipment limitations. Additionally, some patient beds are no longer fit for use due to age.
Meanwhile the third project is the construction of a new school building for SD Islam Al-Hidayah Karang Pucung in Karang Pucung, South Lampung, Lampung. The grant value for this project reaches 9 million yen, or about Rp964.8 million.
The funds will be used to build one school building with three classrooms, four toilets, and the procurement of classroom equipment such as desks and chairs for students, teacher desks, and whiteboards.
Teaching activities at the school are currently conducted in a building about 60 years old, at risk of collapse. In addition, the limited number of classrooms means the school has to turn away around 15 prospective students each year.
Opportunity for Additional Aid
Mitsuru also indicated that similar grant programmes might continue in Japan’s next financial year.
“Japan’s financial year begins in April and ends in March of the following year. We are approaching the end of this financial year, so we will positively consider further aid to Indonesia in the next financial year,” he said.
However, he stressed that the Japanese government cannot yet confirm the number of projects or grant recipients as this is still under discussion.
“We hope to continue this type of assistance, but the number of projects and recipients remains under discussion,” he said.
Previously, under the same programme, the Government of Japan allocated around Rp2 billion for the construction and improvement of school facilities in Lampung and Central Java. The aid was used to build new classrooms, repair damaged school buildings, and provide supporting learning facilities so that hundreds of students could study in a safer and more adequate environment.
(tfa/tfa)