Jakarta. Indonesia will soon host the World Water Forum, and the Southeast Asian country is seeking to take the opportunity to look for foreign investors to fund its strategic water-related projects worth totaling up to $9.6 billion.

Indonesia is set to hold the 10th World Water Forum in Bali on May 18-25. Delegates from various countries are set to attend the forum. Mohammad Zainal Fatah, a senior official at the Public Works Ministry, recently said that Indonesia was in the process of listing the projects that they would offer to foreign investors. The government is still putting the list together, but the included projects are already worth totaling billions of American dollars.

“This list includes various suggestions, and these projects amount to around $9.6 billion. Some are existing projects, while others are new,” Zainal was quoted as saying in a recent press statement.   

Indonesia is in need of fantastic investments in water pipeline infrastructure to provide universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. The country’s investment in drinking water infrastructure has only reached 20.6 percent. To boost the numbers to 30 percent, Indonesia would need at least Rp 123 trillion (about $7.7 billion). The state budget, however, can only cover 37 percent of the water infrastructure needs, and Indonesia is seeking new sources of financing.

“The 10th World Water Forum will see attendance from many countries. This should be our chance to attract new investments into water infrastructure,” said Nani Hendiarti, a deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Investment Affairs.

Indonesia recently reported that it had posted around Rp 401.5 trillion in combined domestic and foreign investments in the first quarter of 2024. About 50.9 percent of those investments came from foreign investors.