JAKARTA: The UAE will develop several major infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including a multimillion-dollar resort in the western province of Aceh, the chief ministers of the UAE and Indonesia have confirmed.
The two nations signed a series of trade agreements during a visit to Jakarta by the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al-Mazroui on Friday. The agreements are part of a $ 22.9 billion deal signed during Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s visit to Abu Dhabi in January last year. The investment agreement, which also includes energy, infrastructure and mining, is considered the most important in Indonesia’s history.
The resort development project, which according to Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Pandjaitan, is worth between $ 300 million and $ 500 million, will begin in Aceh Singkil district in May .
Aceh, a semi-autonomous province at the northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra, is the only Muslim-majority region in Indonesia to impose sharia law.
“I think in two months we will be able to see the progress of this project in the Singkil area,” Pandjaitan said during a joint conference with Al-Mazroui.
Although authorities have not revealed further details, in response to a question from Arab News, Al-Mazroui said some islands off the main coast of Aceh have been identified for the complex.
“We’re waiting for the team to finish it and then we’ll move on to the next stage of having some final agreements,” he said.
The project agreement was signed by Aceh Governor Nova Iriansyah and Amine Abide, CEO of Murban Energy, a UAE company whose investment portfolio includes the development of luxury resorts in the Maldives and the Seychelles.
According to a statement from the Indonesian ambassador to the UAE, Husin Bagis, one of the considerations for developing the project in Aceh is that it is only five hours from the UAE by plane. He said Abide had visited nine islands in Aceh Singkil district that had been selected for the project.
Among the agreements signed in Jakarta, which Al-Mazroui said are a follow-up to those signed in Abu Dhabi last year, is a $ 1.2 trillion agreement between the UAE logistics company (Dubai Port) ( DP) World and the Indonesian group Maspion to develop a port and industrial area in Gresik, East Java.
Other agreements signed on Friday, according to Panjaitan, included an agreement between Indonesian state arms manufacturer Pindad and UAE small arms manufacturer Caracal to develop assault rifles, drones and systems technologies. of defense.
LuLu Group International is also expected to enter the Southeast Asian country, as its chief executive also signed a real estate lease on Friday to open a hypermarket on the outskirts of Jakarta.
Minister Al-Mazroui hinted that other agreements could also be followed as a result of the new economic ties between the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.
“Some new offers have been considered, which were not discussed before, and that is the nature of the relationship,” he said.
Al-Mazroui is the first senior UAE government official to visit Indonesia since signing a bilateral safe travel broker agreement in July last year.
He and members of his delegation are in Indonesia to attend a series of events during the Amazing Week of Indonesia-Emirates, held in Jakarta, Solo, Bandung and Surabaya from 1 to 8 March.