Infrastructure & Transport

For many years, Indonesia’s sizeable infrastructure gap has hindered industrial development. On Java – the country’s most densely populated island – roads, airports and seaports are under pressure due to the large amount of people and goods that need to be moved. At the same time, Indonesia faces challenges connecting other islands across the vast archipelago. Due to this, infrastructure and transport have been key priorities for the government in recent years. At the start of his second term in office in 2019, President Joko Widodo, better known as President Jokowi, launched a $412bn programme to boost investment in the country’s transport infrastructure. While infrastructure development is likely to be affected in the short term by the disruptions caused by the global outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, the government is working to ensure that major projects are attractive to private investors in the coming years. This chapter contains interviews with William Sabandar, President Director, Mass Rapid Transit Jakarta; and Liew Mun Leong, Chairman, Changi Airport Group.