Jakarta. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced Wednesday that it had greenlit a $500 million (Rp 8.29 trillion) policy-based loan aimed at making Indonesia a more attractive trading partner and destination for green investments. 

The loans are part of the so-called Competitiveness, Industrial Modernization, and Trade Acceleration (CITA) program. This new funding further expanded the list of loans that Indonesia had taken out from the ADB. 

The bank’s country director for Indonesia Jiro Tominaga said that the government’s goal of becoming a high-income economy by 2045 would require “sustained economic growth and structural transformation”. 

“The reforms under CITA subprograms will help attract greater investment in green and sustainable businesses, reduce trade barriers, and empower local enterprises, particularly those owned by women,” Tominaga explained.

According to Tominaga, some of the key initiatives include an upgraded online system for licenses as well as tax breaks for the electric vehicle industry. Indonesia plans to back its small enterprises -- the country’s economic driver -- via an incubator program and a nationwide census to identify their needs and potential. 

Past similar programs by the ADB had assisted Indonesia in launching an online platform for faster business licensing and a single-window system to simplify trade procedures.

The Manila-based lender disburses policy-based loans only after the borrower meets the agreed-upon reforms. 

Indonesia reported that it had attracted Rp 942.9 trillion (nearly $56.9 billion) of investments in the first half of 2025, almost meeting the halfway mark of the full-year target. Some Rp 432.6 trillion had come from international investors, making up about 45.9 percent of the total investments. 

The ADB agreed to provide a $500 million policy-based loan for Indonesia to improve its tax collection in August. The Southeast Asian country collected nearly Rp 1.3 quadrillion in taxes as of the end of September, just slightly above 62 percent of the full-year target, the Finance Ministry revealed Tuesday.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia’s exports reached $185.13 billion between January and August 2025, up by 7.72 percent year-on-year. Indonesia also posted a $5.49 billion surplus in August 2025, stretching its positive trade balance streak to 64 months since May 2020.