Since the toppling of President Suharto in 1998, and subsequent decentralisation, Indonesia has struggled to invest in sufficient infrastructure to support its growing economy. Today, congestion, power outages, sanitation problems and high logistics costs are commonplace. This problem has been recognised for many years, and a variety of institutional solutions have been developed. However, despite these efforts, infrastructure development remains slow. A recent, and promising, initiative is the creation of the Committee for Acceleration of Priority Infrastructure Delivery (KPPIP).

This agency is charged with facilitating thirty priority projects, including toll roads, railways, ports, power plants and transmission lines, water and sewerage, refineries and broadband. It is playing an increasingly influential and effective role in enabling the effective implementation and finance of these projects. In this talk, I will outline the process which has led to the creation of KPPIP, and describe its work and achievements. In doing this, I will draw on my involvement with KP3EI, Bappenas and KPPIP throughout the period. I will explain how the MP3EI Masterplan, and its attempted implementation, preceded the current phase, and how the RPJMN 2015-2019 (Five Year Plan) set the framework for the choice of projects. In doing this I will set out the macroeconomic, financial and institutional problems which have dogged infrastructure investment in Indonesia in recent decades. I will then explain how President Jokowi has set out a process for infrastructure reform, and how the mandate for KPPIP evolved.