Military

DATE=03/10/05

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CQ ADB/TSUNAMI GRANTS (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-323142

BYLINE=TIM JOHNSTON

DATELINE=JAKARTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

///// FIXES CR NUMBER /////

HEADLINE: Asian Development Bank Pledges $600 Million in Tsunami Aid

INTRO: The Asian Development Bank has promised 600-million dollars in grants to the five countries worst affected by December's Indian Ocean tsunami. The president of the bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, who is visiting Indonesia, says the aid will be carefully monitored to avoid corruption. Tim Johnston reports from Jakarta.

TEXT: The 600-million-dollar trust fund is to be distributed to Indonesia, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The Asian Development Bank says half the money will go to Indonesia, the hardest-hit country, with more than 220-thousand dead and missing, and huge areas swept clean of housing and infrastructure.

Haruhiko Kuroda is the president of the Asian Development Bank, a non-profit lending organization. After his meetings with Indonesian officials in Jakarta, he said that bank officials will monitor the funds closely.

/// ACT: KURODA 1 ///

"We have to secure assistance actually reaches to the people who need assistance. Here we have, of course, many mechanisms to assure that assistance will actually reach the people who need assistance."

/// END ACT ///

He said the bank and the international anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International will hold a meeting in April in Jakarta to look at ways to ensure that tsunami aid is not misused.

Mr. Kuroda also is meeting with Indonesian officials to discuss broader economic issues. He says he believes that the Indonesian economy, currently expanding at just more than five-percent a year, could grow by more than six-percent if foreign direct investment, known as F.D.I., can be attracted to the country.

/// ACT: KURODA 2 ///

"For Indonesia, I think F.D.I. is much needed because domestic consumption recovered, domestic investment is recovering, but F.D.I. is not and if F.D.I. can be attracted more in coming years that would certainly contribute to export growth, investment growth and total economic growth."

/// END ACT ///

He says the private sector will have to play a significant role in attracting investment. He also warns that the government needs to continue tackling corruption and the legal uncertainties that have made investors, both domestic and foreign, wary of putting money into Indonesia. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/TJ/KPD/RAE