Skip to main content

Indonesia plans $490 billion infrastructure spend over the next five years

According to the government of Indonesia, US$490.7 billion (IDR 6,000 trillion) will be needed in the next five years for a series of major infrastructure projects across the country including roads, bridges, power plants, ports and airports. The government hopes that investment projects like these will boost its economic growth rate to 7% per annum versus 5% this year. This latest announcement follows on from an Indonesian government report last November, which unveiled plans to invest $35 billion in new
October 8, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
According to the government of Indonesia, US$490.7 billion (IDR 6,000 trillion) will be needed in the next five years for a series of major infrastructure projects across the country including roads, bridges, power plants, ports and airports. The government hopes that investment projects like these will boost its economic growth rate to 7% per annum versus 5% this year.

This latest announcement follows on from an 1065 Indonesian government report last November, which unveiled plans to invest $35 billion in new infrastructure projects in a bid to tackle one of the biggest deterrents to its growth – a weak national highway and transportation infrastructure in what is now one of Asia's biggest economies. “Of the 56 planned projects, 32 are meant to be partnerships between the private and public sector, which Indonesia calls 'PPP' ventures,” said Reuters.

"We want the PPP scheme to dominate the development projects," chief economic minister Hatta Rajasa said, adding that there would have to be incentives to attract private investors.

Indonesia has attracted high volumes of foreign investment in recent years, but the level has started to slow in the face of a weaker global economy and some severe infrastructure bottlenecks. Economists have long argued that the Indonesian government must first address problems such as poor quality roads and overloaded ports if it is to have any hope of competing for investment with other fast-growing Asian nations.

Among the projects (which will start between 2014 and 2017) are several new highways schemes, including toll roads in Sumatra, one of the world's largest islands. There are also plans for eight seaports, two airports, eight railways, five power plants and 11 water supply and waste treatment, of some will be done by PPPs. No new railway line has been built in Indonesia since the end of Dutch colonial rule nearly 70 years ago.

"These infrastructure projects are crucial to sustain Indonesia's long-term growth," said Andy Ferdinand, head of research at Batavia Prosperindo Sekuritas in Jakarta.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Vietnam Expressway Corp to sell five highway routes
    October 31, 2014
    Vietnam is considering selling its ownership in several major highways to help pay for more road projects. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) recently said that the government’s infrastructure investor body Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment (VIDIFI), would sell 70% of its ownership in the Hanoi–Hai Phong Highway project to a buyer from India. The move is part of a strategy that could see Vietnam sell off more of its investment in highway projects, either under construction or complete
  • Middle East financing for Moscow’s new toll route
    June 12, 2018
    Financing from the Middle East is helping to build the first toll road in Russia’s capital Moscow – Eugene Gerden reports. The first toll road within the Russian capital Moscow will be built this year with financing from a consortium comprising Russian and Arabian investors. This was revealed officially in a recent statement from the Moscow City Government. The heart of the project involves building a relief road for Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a major radial avenue in Moscow, which is known for its luxury stores
  • Major Central American infrastructure projects
    February 23, 2012
    Mexico and Central America are home to some of the world's most spectacular infrastructure projects as Patrick Smith reports
  • Report claims that Germany’s toll roads are too expensive
    January 4, 2016
    Toll roads built in Germany under public-private partnerships deals has been costing taxpayers much more than originally planned, a government spending watchdog has claimed. An internal report the German Federal Audit Office (BRH) has criticised PPP plans for private motorway construction as laid out by the Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt. According to the report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, five out of the total six motorways built through a PPP deal resu