CHINA-INDONESIA BELT+ROAD DEVELOPMENTS

GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON

On 4 July 2022, China’s Silk Road Fund (SRF) announced that it will invest $2.99 billion into Indonesia through its first investment in Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund. The SRF, in a joint statement with the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), said the two sides have signed an “investment framework agreement” for potential deals in “various asset classes and fund of funds.” The SRF is an investment vehicle of the Chinese government.

The agreement targets all business sectors open to foreign investments in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, particularly “those that promote community development and economic connectivity” between the two countries. “We believe that investment in Indonesia and the region has high potential, especially when conducting it together with INA,” said SRF President Wang Yanzhi.

Ridha Wirakusumah is the CEO of INA, + said that Indonesia shared a “strong commitment” with the SRF to promote bilateral economic ties. The INA is seeking to attract foreign funds as co-investors mainly to focus on domestic infrastructure projects, and also in renewable energy, the health sector and the digital economy.

The West has been caught sleeping by the development of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) The West has underestimated BRI’s  significance, its financial reach + its geo-political significance.  Initially, the West ignored BRI + its focus on ports, railways, highways + airports; then it downplayed BRI as “small + irrelevant”; then it dismissed BRI as “debt diplomacy”; and is only now beginning to mount a rival development to itself invest funds in overseas projects. The West has lost significant time. China already has BRI links with 130 countries.

Followers of developments in China are beginning to understand the global importance of BRI + its contribution to the Geo-Political Shift in World Affairs. The US John Hopkins University has exonerated China of any debt diplomacy intent + former Australian Prime Minister Keating has said recently than China provides investment funds – unlike the West –  without any political conditions. So what is the rationale for China’s BRI push? Answer – If It Is Good For You It Is Good For Us. A Win-Win Initiative.