JAKARTA: The United Arab Emirates will develop several major infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including a multi-million dollar tourist resort in the westernmost province of Aceh, the top ministers of the Emirates and Indonesia have confirmed.
A series of business agreements were signed by the two nations during the visit to Jakarta by the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates, 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 covers energy, infrastructure and mining, is seen as the largest in Indonesia’s history.
The resort development project, which according to Indonesia’s coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment Luhut Pandjaitan, is valued at between $ 300 million and $ 500 million, is expected to begin in Aceh Singkil district in May.
Aceh, a semi-autonomous province in the northwestern tip of Sumatra, is the only Muslim-majority region in Indonesia that imposes Sharia.
“I think that within two months, we can see the progress of this project in the Singkil area,” Pandjaitan said during a joint conference with Al-Mazroui.
While authorities did not disclose further details in response to a question from Arab News, Al-Mazroui said that some resorts on the main coast of Aceh have been identified for the resort.
“We hope that the team will complete (then) and we will move on to the next stage of final agreements,” he said.
The project agreement was signed by Governor Aceh Nova Iriansyah and Amine Abide, CEO of Murban Energy, a United Arab Emirates company whose investment portfolio includes the development of luxury resorts in the Maldives and Seychelles.
According to a statement by the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Husin Bagis, one of the considerations for the development of the project in Aceh is that it is only five hours away from the United Arab Emirates by plane. He said Abide visited nine islands in the Aceh Singkil district that were selected for the project.
Among the agreements reached in Jakarta, which Al-Mazroui said were the result of those signed in Abu Dhabi last year, is a $ 1.2 billion deal between the United Arab Emirates logistics company Dubai Port (DP) World and Maspion group from Indonesia to develop a port and an industrial area in Gresik, East Java.
Other agreements signed Friday, Panjaitan said, included an agreement between Indonesia’s state arms maker Pindad and UAE small arms manufacturer Caracal to develop assault rifles, drones and defense system technologies.
LuLu Group International is also expected to enter the Southeast Asian country, as its president’s director also signed a property lease on Friday to open a hypermarket on the outskirts of Jakarta.
Minister Al-Mazroui suggested that further transactions could follow as a result of the newly concluded economic ties between the UAE and Indonesia.
“Several new offers have been considered that have not been discussed before, and that is the nature of the relationship,” he said.
Al-Mazroui is the first senior government official in the United Arab Emirates to visit Indonesia since signing a bilateral safe travel corridor agreement in July last year.
He and members of his delegation are in Indonesia to attend a series of events during the Amazing Indonesia-Emirates Week, held in Jakarta, Solo, Bandung and Surabaya from 1-8 March.