VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and Germany inked a cooperation agreement under which four development projects will receive funding of 37 million euros in areas of effective governance, technical and vocational education and training, and environment and biodiversity protection. Indonesian Finance Ministry's Director General of Finance and Risk Management Luky Alfirman and German Ambassador to Indonesia Peter Schoof were present during the signing ceremony held at the Finance Ministry's office in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will finance the total 37 million euros in grant funding for the four development projects in Indonesia.

"Indonesia, as one of Germany's global development partners, is a key player in tackling global development issues. Germany supports Indonesia's resolve in realizing the Agenda 2030 and its pledge to mitigating the impacts of climate change," Schoof remarked in a statement from the German Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Striving to promote good governance in Indonesia, both nations are collaborating in a joint project known as "Domestic Resources Mobilisation for Sustainable Development" that prioritizes fiscal and tax policy for financing infrastructure and social programs.

In the meantime, the cooperation project on "TVET System Reform" will back Indonesia's vocational education reform targeted at ascertaining competitiveness of the workforce in future and seeing that their skills are in tune with the labor markets demands by imparting high-quality education and training.

To address environment and climate change issues, Indonesia and Germany have collaborated in a project on "Peatland Rehabilitation and Management" involving the North Kalimantan provincial government for ensuring the sustainable management of the peatland ecosystem in the Kayan Sembakung Delta by getting representatives of the private sector, villages, and the civil societies involved in this endeavor.

The funding will further help in financing the joint collaboration project on "Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains in Indonesia" to recognize alternative sources of income to timber and palm oil for smallholders that are both domestically and internationally profitable and that can avert further deforestation in Indonesia.

Germany's contributions for the four projects will be implemented by the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) and the relevant
Indonesian ministries and sub-national institutions, supported by GIZ, a major German development agency.

Director General of Finance and Risk Management Luky Alfirman remarked that today's agreement mirrored the close and deep relations between both nations.

"We have a long-standing history of cooperation and are keen to take our successful cooperation to the next level in terms of seeking sustainable solutions to Indonesia's core and global development issues," he remarked. (ant)