Indonesia, France Develop Infrastructure Investment

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Indonesian National Development Planning Ministry and the French Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism Promotion are developing the potential for infrastructure investment in Indonesia.

"A French delegation brought a number of entrepreneurs who are interested in investing and establishing cooperative projects in Indonesia that were financed by the Government of France, such as telecommunications, facilities for the television industry, a green city, and transportation," the Indonesian National Development Planning Minister, Sofyan Djalil, said here on Thursday.

During a bilateral meeting with the France Minister for Foreign Trade and Tourism Promotion of France, Matthias Fekl, Sofyan said that France and Indonesia have worked together in financing the revitalization of the national television channel Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI).

Sofyan also asked relevant ministries to prepare other programs listed in the "Blue Book" to be realized as part of the cooperation.

However, Sofyan did not mention the value of French investments in infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

"The fund is from the French government. I do not know the value of the investments. There is a financing with concessions scheme, and also through French financial institutions," Sofyan said.

Meanwhile, Minister Fekl said Indonesia and France have a strong climate of cooperation in economic and other fields, such as addressing climate change.

One of the sectors in which there is considerable cooperation is renewable energy, together with the Indonesian oil and gas company, Pertamina.

"Last year the cooperation of the two countries reached a value of 4 billion Euros, and we hope this cooperation can grow bigger next year," Fekl said.

He noted that there are 160 French companies in Indonesia, which have created at least 40,000 jobs.(WDY)