Indonesia prepares 89 new national strategic projects

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto answered reporters’ questions after a recent virtual meeting (Photo: setkab.go.id)

Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian government is preparing 89 new National Strategic Projects (NSP) worth a total 1,422 trillion rupiah (94.8 billion USD) throughout 2020 – 2024, a senior minister said.

Among them are drone projects, bridges, airports, industrial zones, irrigation, dams, sea dikes, rice fields, biofuel and salt projects.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto told reporters after a recent virtual conference led by President Joko Widodo that the president also suggested creating transportation, economy and tourism hubs in East Kalimantan, Bali or Manado in North Sulawesi.

The World Bank has forecast that Indonesia’s economy is expected to grow zero percent in 2020 compared to 5.02 percent last year.

Earlier, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati revised downward economic growth to 2.3 percent this year, adding that the figure would stand at minus 0.4 percent in the worst case scenario.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s short-term economic recovery plan for the June to December period will be launched by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin this month, said Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

He said the plan would still focus on three key objectives, namely to empower people, propel businesses, and stimulate the economy.

In addition, it represents an opportunity for the Southeast Asian nation to take advantage of new opportunities arising from the COVID-19 crisis, the official noted./.