Recently we have read a lot about your partnership with The Asia Development Bank, World bank, EIP so can you give quick overview on how you see your roles?

The country was lacking long term financing structures where the banking sector could not afford to provide long tenures. So the government created a new financial industry player, which is SMI. SMI is flexible in the kind of financing, kind of a one stop shop for infrastructure financing. With Indonesia facing limited financing from the government, we are also inviting the private sector to participate in these projects.

I judge the remaining financing capacity of the banking sector to be no more than a maximum of $ 40 Billion. In this sense, only 1/10 of the total need for Indonesia’s infrastructure demand can be financed this way. We have to come up with project structures that allow the mobilization of the private sector, whereby foreign investors can participate.

Trust from international investors over the bankability of the project is a problem, no?

If the investor will take the credit risk of our institution and not directly from the project, we have already created a much more comfortable situation because we are a ‘AAA’ rated institution, comparable to a sovereign institution. In terms of funding sources, we try to tap capital market funds through issuing corporate bonds and mobilizing domestic long term institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance funds.

Would you say there’s need to go further into the international market for financing?

It is my opinion the stakeholders need to make an effort in finding the right investor. Even if there is capacity from domestic investors that can be mobilized, such as domestic pension or insurance funds, their approach needs to change. But it is not easy to calculate the risks. These institutions need to get used to choosing bankable projects. Once the project is properly structured, the risk is low and with a government guarantee in place, the risk is further mitigated.

You have been at the helm of this institution since 2009, would you say there has been a stronger push from this Government in terms of Infrastructure projects?

The progress over the past two and a half years has shown many infrastructure projects being delivered, these results speak for themselves. Because our current president is very much a hands-on person, he can maintain commitment and a disciplined time-frame. This has delivered results.

Tourism is also one of the main topics in 2017 are you also supporting tourism projects?

Tourism is one of our eligible sectors but again linked to infrastructure, because hotels and properties can be financed by the banks. Our focus is waste management, water and power supply.

There is sector variety in our portfolio, represented by basic economic as well as social infrastructure: hospitals, toll roads, bridges, airports and ports. Renewable energy is one of our key focusses also, we are tapping all the climate fund donors from the EFD. We just got accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which is a special achievement for us as a young institution.

You have been with the institution from the beginning, you are now on the second phase: what is your vision for this institution going forward?

The Government has modelled this institution on something like the Korean Development Bank. It was contemplating setting up an Indonesian development bank, and they saw SMI as a good embryo to become this. We also have a reputation as an institution that delivers on its projects. The bill which will make us into an Indonesian Development Bank has already been drafted, and I believe that the Government has already submitted the draft bill to parliament. We expect this to be handled sometime next year.

In the future, SMI should strengthen its catalytic role in developing innovative products and solutions to help the government deliver new infrastructure.

Is there any project you are particularly fond of?

I would pick the hospital in Sidoarjo as an example. The local government didn’t have the budget to do a preliminary study. We then helped them do their own business case, conducting preliminary studies afterwards to prove the project’s value.

“I think that because our organization is still small, coordination is easier. And because I have been part of SMI since day one, the corporate culture is something we have built together.”