Chinese PM to visit Indonesia in April

JAKARTA, April 5, 2010 (AFP) - Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will visit Indonesia this month for talks focusing on infrastructure investment, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said Monday.

JAKARTA, April 5, 2010 (AFP) - Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will visit Indonesia this month for talks focusing on infrastructure investment, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said Monday.

"The Chinese trade minister has confirmed that the prime minister will visit Indonesia from April 23 to 24," Rajasa told reporters.

China has agreed to lend two billion dollars for infrastructure investment in Indonesia, deemed vital to achieving the country's growth target of seven percent a year by 2014. Growth last year was 4.5 percent.

Beijing will give Jakarta 1.8 billion dollars worth of preferential export buyer's credits as well as a concessional loan of 263 million dollars, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Saturday after meeting Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming.

Indonesia plans to spend 140 billion dollars in the next five years to improve its poor infrastructure such as toll roads, bridges, ports and power stations.

Six new projects approved by Indonesia and China include the Parit Baru thermal power plant and Tayan Bridge in West Kalimantan, the Medan-Kuala Namu toll road in South Sumatra and the Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan toll road in West Java, the state-run Antara news agency said.

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