Indonesia and Norway’s USD1 billion deal to save the Southeast Asian country’s forests and contribute to global climate change mitigation efforts is likely to trigger much needed reforms to Indonesia’s notoriously bureaucratic procedures, veteran technocrat Kuntoro Mangkusubroto told Reuters. Mangkusubroto heads the Indonesian president’s delivery unit and is in charge of overseeing the deal with Norway, which was announced earlier this year. He explained reforms to certain government processes are needed to make sure the money is spent on projects, not fraudulent deals.
“We have to simplify things, integrate things, and that’s a process we’ve been waiting for,” Reuters quotes Mangkusubroto, who has come to be known as Indonesia’s “Mr. Fix-it,” a nod to his ability to work his way through red tape.
