UPDATE 1-Indonesia to offer $19 billion projects - president

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By Muhamad Al Azhari and Adriana Nina Kusuma

JAKARTA, May 26 (Reuters) - Indonesia will offer projects worth about $19 billion, mostly in the infrastructure sector, to investors soon, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday.

Southeast Asia's biggest economy badly needs investment, especially in infrastructure, to help boost growth and reduce unemployment, but has been struggling to do so amid a weak regulatory environment.

Yudhoyono told a regional investment forum his administration is taking measures to boost investor confidence such as fighting graft and reducing regulatory uncertainty resulting from the country's decentralisation drive.

"Legal certainty is vital to investors, that is why we are actively synchronising local and national policy to ensure that local regulations do not contradict national regulations," Yudhoyono told around 300 investors at the two-day meeting that began on Monday.

During the meeting, the government plans to offer 200 projects in sectors such as infrastructure, mining and tourism in the vast archipelago with a population of about 226 million.

The projects include an $81,000 cattle breeding project in Central Sulawesi province, a $4 billion oil refinery project in Banten province, a $27 million artificial lake in Riau province and a $204 million geothermal power plant in Central Java.

Actual foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investments rose significantly last year on the back of political stability and an improving economic outlook.