West Java signs 11 MOUs on infrastructure development
West Java signs 11 MOUs on infrastructure development
Zakki P. Hakim and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung
The West Java administration has signed 11 memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on Friday with foreign and domestic investors
aimed at developing infrastructure in the province.
The MOUs, signed at the closing of the West Java
Infrastructure Summit, formalized a number of public-private
partnerships to develop infrastructure in areas such as
electricity, water supply and waste treatment as well as non-
infrastructure projects such as a bonded industrial zone and
sugar cane plantations.
"The MOUs concern a very limited number of projects offered at
the event. We expect participating investors at the event to see
which projects in West Java need capital," West Java governor
Danny Setiawan said.
A total of 174 foreign and domestic investors attended the
event that offered 57 infrastructure projects worth Rp 35
trillion (US$3.5 billion). The event was part of the
administration's effort to boost the province's economic growth
from the current 5 percent to 8 percent in the next five years.
Danny said West Java needs Rp 50 trillion annually to develop
up to 200 infrastructure projects but the administration had only
prioritized 57 for the summit.
The event was jointly organized by the province's Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadinda), consulting firm PA Asia Ltd. and
supported by the Asian Development Bank.
Among the signatories were PT Gunung Semesta Raya, a
subsidiary of Artha Graha Network, and Chinese investors who wish
to build a 1,000-hectare bonded industrial zone in Karawang worth
$70 million, Kadinda chairman Iwan Dermawan said.
The Artha Graha Group would be the developer of the so-called
China Industrial Estate project, which would need site
preparation and work on access roads, electricity,
telecommunications, water and waste treatment networks,
construction information provider firm PT BCI Asia said in its
website www.bciasia.com.
Iwan said the Artha Graha Network, through PT First Mujur
Plana & Industri, also signed an MOU to develop a Rp 1 trillion
sugar cane plantation.
Other MOUs signed were for cooperation with Singapore-based
United Engineers Pte. Ltd. for tap water supply and Keppel Corp.
Ltd. for waste and water treatment; and Hong Kong-based Golden
Concord Holding Ltd., Malaysia-based Geo Fusion Sdn Bhd, South
Korean Kiikforum Inc. and Sam-an Engineering Consultants Co. Ltd.
for developing power plants.
Local signatories included PT Medco Duta for developing
geothermal power plants and PT Dirgantara Yudha Artha for
developing the Pasirkoja-Soreang toll road and for waste
treatment plants.
"To make the MOUs come about, we have to create a conducive
climate by ensuring legal certainty, simplifying procedures and
getting the commitment of provincial, regency and mayoralty
administrations," Iwan said.
Juan Casla, economic cooperation program manager of the
delegation of the European Commission to Indonesia, expected
provincial administrations to have a better chance for successful
reform, given that today provinces had more autonomy under the
decentralization drive.
"Everything that can be done locally has a better chance for
success," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the chance was
better for West Java as the administration had initiated a "legal
security working group".
The group -- involving a number of prominent law firms --
recommended that the administration establish a special court
chamber for investment cases in Bandung, and educate selected top
judges in economic and industrial development, particularly the
role of infrastructure in developing countries.
Other recommendations included giving advice to national
authorities on tax division issues; a more integrated approach to
investment-related licenses and applications, the introduction of
competition for management of public services, and the
introduction of the use of the "landlord" model in project
developments to avoid undue political and civil service
interference.