Japan to give Indonesia $2.1 mln loan for energy co-op

JAKARTA, Jan. 30 (Chinese media) -- Japan will grant the

Indonesian government a loan of 21 million U.S. dollars to improve their

bilateral cooperation in the energy sector and to sustain Indonesia's liquid

natural gas (LNG) export to Japan.

"Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expect a good cooperation in the

energy sector by providing the loans. Besides, to strengthen bilateral

relationship between the two countries, JBIC demands Indonesia to increase gas

export to Japan," the Indonesian Business daily on Friday quoted an unnamed

source as saying.

According to the source who knew the agenda of the

meeting between JBIC President and CEO Hiroshi Watanabe and Indonesian Vice

President Jusuf Kalla, the two also discussed respective economic prospects in

2009.

Indonesia was the largest gas supplier to Japan in

2006, with an export volume of 13.99 million tons.