JAKARTA - Having contributed to the trend of sustainable financing, Citibank N.A. Indonesia or Citi Indonesia stated its readiness to seize green financing growth opportunities in the future.

Citi Indonesia has indeed been recorded as having participated in the issuance of the first green bond owned by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk (PGEO) worth US$400 million last May. In April 2023, Citi Indonesia also provided a US$750 million green syndicated loan for PLN, which will be active for the next five years.

"Every opportunity [related to ESG financing, red.] that we can get from our clients in the public sector and global corporates, we will also continue to explore," said Batara Sianturi, CEO of Citi Indonesia, when met at the Performance Exposure and Q2 Economic Outlook 2023 Citi Indonesia today (10/8). "Here, there is more E, namely Environment," he continued.

In addition, Sianturi claims that Citi Indonesia has also handled the S aspect of ESG financing, namely social financing. "We made several transactions, for example, with BTN, and several other multinational companies," he said. "We want to ensure, both E and S, we are in constant conversation with our clients," he explained.

Even though there are additional requirements for corporate customers to receive green financing, Sianturi believes that financing this segment will improve the company's image, especially public companies, in front of its shareholders. Therefore, green financing and green assets will be in demand because they increase the ESG portfolio and the company's green revenue portion, so that corporations can meet international ESG standards and the promises of ESG initiatives offered to their shareholders.

Going forward, Sianturi assures that efforts to support green financing will be continued. "It's a dynamic process. The important thing is that the dynamics of the choice for green financing will be continued through capital market bonds, or syndicated loans. Also, don't just focus on the E, but also focus on the S." he said. (ZH/LM)