PT SMI President Director: Asia-Pacific Needs Stronger DFIs

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Reynaldi Hermansjah, President Director of PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero) (PT SMI), has highlighted the importance of closer collaboration among Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) across Asia and the Pacific, alongside strong governance and financial innovation. His remarks follow his participation in the 49th ADFIAP Annual Meeting, held on 23-25 September 2026, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which brought together DFI leaders from across the region.

"Over three days of formal sessions and informal conversations, one theme kept resurfacing: the infrastructure gap facing our region is too large for any single government, or any single institution, to close alone," said Reynaldi.

During the meeting, several fellow members asked how PT SMI brings financing, advisory, and blended finance together under one institution, a combination few DFIs in the region currently operate. Reynaldi said the discussions were a useful reminder that Indonesia's development finance institution has as much to offer the regional community as it has to learn from it.

The scale of the challenge is significant. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated in 2017 that developing Asia needs roughly US$1.7 trillion a year in infrastructure investment through 2030. Indonesia reflects the same pattern: projections cited by the Government of Indonesia show infrastructure investment needs of around US$625 billion between 2025 and 2029, of which central and regional government budgets can cover only about 40 percent.

According to Reynaldi, the fundamental challenge lies not only in raising more capital, but in directing it toward outcomes that advance sustainable development. It is in meeting this challenge, he said, that DFIs earn their relevance and mandate.

PT SMI, a state-owned non-bank financial institution operating under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, was established not to compete as a conventional lender but to play a catalytic role in the development ecosystem: bridging gaps, mitigating risks, and crowding in investment in sectors and projects where private capital alone may be hesitant to engage. According to Reynaldi, this mandate is realized most clearly through project preparation, an often underappreciated but indispensable process that helps turn promising ideas into viable opportunities for financing.

Through its Project Development Facility, PT SMI has advised on 35 projects worth close to US$44 billion across eleven infrastructure sectors since 2011, helping them progress toward bankability and, ultimately, financial close. The company's experience in blended finance, through platforms such as SDG Indonesia One and its role as Country Platform Manager for Indonesia's Energy Transition Mechanism, points to the same lesson: capital flows more easily when different institutions and instruments work together rather than in parallel.

Reynaldi noted that financial innovation is not the whole story. As Asia-Pacific's DFIs seek to be seen as trusted partners by governments, multilateral institutions, and global capital markets, he said innovation must be matched by equally steady governance. "Compliance, transparency, and sound institutional procedure are never just formalities. They are often the quiet difference between an institution that is innovative and one that is also, over time, trusted."

He added that the same principle applies to the regional associations that bring DFIs together. Such bodies convene, set standards, and speak on behalf of their members to governments, multilateral lenders, and global investors, an influence that rests on credibility. ADFIAP, which traces its roots to 1976 and was established under the auspices of the Asian Development Bank, is a case in point: half a century on, many of its members see in it the potential to represent Asia-Pacific's development finance community on a wider international stage.

"Realizing that potential will depend as much on how the association works as on what it sets out to achieve," Reynaldi said. "Clear and consistently applied procedures, timely and open communication with members, and decision-making that reflects the views of the wider membership are what allow an organization to speak with authority on behalf of others. An association that champions these standards across the region is at its most persuasive when it visibly practices them at home."

Drawing on its experience of operating within Indonesia's public-sector governance and oversight framework, PT SMI has expressed its readiness to share lessons and to contribute actively, alongside fellow members, to strengthening ADFIAP's governance and openness. Reynaldi noted that a well-governed, transparent, and accountable association serves all its members well and is more likely to be taken seriously by the wider world.

Reynaldi described Indonesia's journey, and PT SMI's contribution to it, as one part of a broader regional narrative. He said he returned from Colombo optimistic that the region's development finance institutions are becoming more than financiers of growth, evolving into a community of practice united by a shared purpose and enriched by the exchange of ideas and experience.

"The infrastructure that will shape our region's future will be built one bankable project at a time, and the trust and cooperation that sustain it will be built institution by institution, partnership by partnership. Neither is something a single institution can achieve alone, but both are things we can accomplish together."

About PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero)

PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero), established on February 26, 2009, is a State-Owned Enterprise under the coordination of the Ministry of Finance, operating as a Non-Bank Financial Institution with a mandate to serve as an agent of sustainable development. PT SMI's business is built on three pillars: Commercial Financing, Public Financing, and Advisory and Project Development Services.

Beyond its core role as an infrastructure financier, PT SMI functions as a development enabler, offering a range of distinctive products and services that support the acceleration of infrastructure development — including the implementation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) schemes that bring together private and multilateral financial institutions. PT SMI actively supports the execution of PPP projects and drives infrastructure development at the regional level through its regional lending products.

SOURCE PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero)