Jakarta. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has agreed to facilitate cooperation between his country’s sovereign wealth fund Future Fund, and its Indonesian counterpart, Danantara.

Albanese has kicked off his first international trip since his recent election victory with a visit to close neighbor Indonesia. He met with President Prabowo Subianto at the latter’s Jakarta palace on Thursday for some bilateral talks that put economic cooperation high up on the agenda.

Just like what Indonesian businesspeople have predicted, their meeting touched on Danantara -- a fund that the Indonesian leader claimed could eventually surpass $1 trillion in assets. This includes the possibility of linking Danantara with Australia’s Future Fund, although the details of this partnership remain unknown.

“They [the leaders] agreed Australia would support Danantara to join the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds [IFSWF], and would facilitate cooperation with Australia’s Future Fund,” the joint communique reads.

Founded in 2006, the Future Fund manages money on behalf of the Australian government across seven special-purpose public asset funds. Some are related to housing and medical research.

It also invests in a fund that specifically aims to build drought-resilient farms and communities. Future Fund reported that its assets had reached A$240.8 billion ($154.1 billion) as of end-March following a 7.9 percent one-year return. 

On the other hand, the IFSWF is a larger international group of the world’s sovereign wealth funds, of which Australia’s Future Fund is a member. The IFSWF started out as a working group that created the so-called Santiago Principles -- the globally accepted standards for sovereign wealth funds’ governance and risk management practices. A full member of the IFSWF must endorse the Santiago Principles and pay membership fees.

Danantara manages the assets of all Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises, and targets large-scale projects that can give a major economic boost. This includes industrial processing, petrochemicals, and food production, among others. The fund is open for international partnerships.

Just last month, Danantara and Qatar Investment Authority agreed to set up a $4 billion joint fund that would focus on high-priority sectors like renewable energy and mineral processing. Qatar Investment Authority is an IFSWF member. Danantara’s boss, Rosan Roeslani, not long ago claimed that the fund was already in talks with two other foreign investment agencies. Rosan, however, did not say which international fund he was referring to.

Albanese has just taken his oath of office to continue premiership earlier this week.

At the joint news conference, the Australian politician said that it was not without a reason that he had picked Indonesia for his first overseas stop.

“Our region comes first. I'm here in Indonesia because no relationship is more important to Australia than this one. No nation is more important to prosperity, security, and the stability of the Indo-Pacific than Indonesia,” Albanese said.

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