One of the priorities of the six infrastructure projects to be built starting 2012 was that they must interconnect maritime lanes and several ports.Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA News) - ASEAN member states have agreed to begin using ASEAN infrastructure fund (AIF) to build six infrastructure projects per year in the region, an Indonesian diplomat said.
"Indonesia will be the first country to benefit from AIF to be introduced starting next year," Indonesian Ambassador to ASEAN I Gede Ngurah Swajaya said after attending an ASEAN Senior Officials Preparatory Meeting (ASEAN SOM) held ahead of the 19th ASEAN Summit at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center on Monday.
He said the agreement on the use of AIF for Indonesia would later be brought to a meeting of ASEAN economic ministers for endorsement.
One of the priorities of the six infrastructure projects to be built starting 2012 was that they must interconnect maritime lanes and several ports in the region, he said.
The project was the expansion of roll on roll off (Ro-Ro) shipping lanes which connected Davao in the Philippines to Bitung in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The shipping lanes would later be developed to cover several ports in Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand, he said.
The project would complement cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines within the framework of BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area), he said.
AIF was formed in association with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in September 2011 with an authorized capital of US$485.2 million consisting of US$335.2 million from ASEAN member states as capital participation and US$150 million from the ADB.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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