Indonesia, UAE sign $23b investment deals

The UAE and Indonesia on Monday signed 16 agreements and MoUs worth $23 billion to further enhance the bilateral relations and investment in various sectors including energy, ports and infrastructure.
President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, who is on an official visit, met His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and discussed matters of mutual interests to strengthen economic relations between the two countries. Both the leaders witnessed signing of key agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
"The President of Indonesia and I witnessed the exchange of 16 agreements and MoUs between our countries. Indonesia is an important partner with a regional and international presence. We are keen to strengthen cooperation for our mutual benefit," Sheikh Mohamed tweeted.
Major development of the day was state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) twin energy deals with Indonesia's firms Pertamina and Chandra Asri.
As per a sales agreement, Adnoc will supply Pertamina with up to 528,000MT of liquid petroleum gas by the end of 2020. The MoU explores development of crude to petrochemicals complex in Balongan, West Java.
Another MoU will explore supply of naphtha to Chandra Asri that would be utilised as a feedstock for their current and potential new cracker complex in Indonesia.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO, signed each of the agreements, with Nicke Widyawati, Pertamina President Director and CEO and Erwin Ciputra, Chandra Asri president director.
Dr Al Jaber said the agreements will help Adnoc to secure additional in-market presence in Indonesia, enabling new domestic value-creation opportunities across the hydrocarbon chain.
"This announcement is a testament to the success of Adnoc's international partnership strategy, our ability to consistently deliver innovative value-creation opportunities and the UAE's strong ties with Indonesia."
Widyawati said the agreements will strengthen Pertamina's ability to carry out its national duty, realising Indonesia's energy security in a challenging and complex environment.
"We expect that both the potential refinery development at Balongan and the direct LPG supply will allow us to optimise Indonesia's oil and gas value chain, better serve the domestic market through our vast distribution networks across the whole archipelago and access new opportunities to meet growing global demand for petrochemical products."
"The agreements with the Indonesian firms will potentially help Adnoc to secure in-market presence in one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economies," said Al Jaber.
Ciputra said Chandra Asri is delighted to explore opportunities with Adnoc in the area of feedstock supply for our current and future petrochemical business.
"This is in line with our heritage and strategy of developing long-term, win-win partnerships as a growth partner; supporting our ongoing mission to contribute to Indonesia's economic development."
Flurry of deals across sectors
Widodo later took to twitter to announce the agreements which will lead to new jobs and boost economic growth. Widodo said five agreements were also signed between the governments.
The leaders reportedly discussed a plan to establish a sovereign wealth fund. Japan's Softbank and the US International Development Finance Corp were interested in taking part in the fund, according to news agencies.
The MoU's included those involving the ministries and institutions including health, education, culture, climate change and environment, agriculture, terrorism, ports and Islamic Affairs and Awqaf.
There was an agreement to purchase energy between a group of Indonesian companies and Masdar; a joint venture between DP World and Maspion International Container Port in Gresik, East Java, to construct Maspion International Container Port with a capacity of capacity of 3 million TEUs annually; between Emirates Global Aluminium and Indonesia Asahan Aluminium; one to assess opportunities to cooperate in oil refining field in Indonesia between Mubadala Investment Company and Pertamina.
A Letter of Intent between the Government of West Java and LuLu Group International regarding improving the absorption of the workforce in West Java Provincial Government through the empowerment and capacity building programme was also inked.
- ashwani@khaleejtimes.com