Danantara Indonesia will invest $20 billion in a wide range of projects from metal processing to artificial intelligence, President Prabowo Subianto said on Monday, as he launched the country's new sovereign wealth fund.

Washington may not have a sovereign wealth fund, but almost half the U.S. states do. Indeed, the earliest precursor of a national sovereign wealth fund was established in the United States: in 1803, Ohio created a land trust to finance public education in the state.

With official details scant so far, speculation about the shape of a planned new US sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is broad. But if the idea does become a reality, other asset owners are likely to be affected by such a large newcomer in one way or another.

Indonesia on Monday launched a new sovereign wealth fund that will aim to manage state assets worth more than $900 billion as President Prabowo Subianto looks to turbo-charge growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

A sovereign wealth fund often serves as a vehicle to invest a government’s budget surplus. The U.S. doesn’t have that luxury.

The fund will invest US$20 billion (S$27 billion) in 20 projects to drive development in the nation. Read more at straitstimes.com.

He wants to tap into the fund's assets -- planned to be more than $900 billion -- to boost Indonesia to developed economy status, despite expert concern about its governance.