Indonesia close to decision on rail link
Print Edition
THE Indonesian government is studying proposals from China and Japan for the construction of a high-speed rail line and expects to announce the outcome soon, a senior official said yesterday.
Andrinof Chaniago, national development planning minister, told reporters that a decision on which proposal to accept could be made within two weeks.
The rail link, which will connect the capital Jakarta to Bandung, is part of a 750-kilometer high-speed train project that will cut across four provinces on the main island of Java and end in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.
President Joko Widodo has ambitious plans to improve Indonesia’s infrastructure, which could boost manufacturing and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Officials said earlier that the final proposals made by China and Japan followed intense high-level lobbying efforts as the two countries compete for commercial influence in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
Both countries have substantial expertise in high-speed trains though, compared with Japan, China is a latecomer to the industry.
“We will conduct a review in not more than two weeks and will make a decision soon,” Chaniago said after meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xu Shaoshi.
China and Japan have offered low interest loans and other perks as they vie to secure the rail contract.
China’s embassy in Jakarta has released a statement promising 40,000 new jobs in Indonesia for every year of the line’s construction.
Chaniago said China estimates the line will cost US$5.5 billion and is offering Indonesia 50-year loans at an annual interest rate of 2 percent.
Indonesia’s Presidential Chief of Staff Luhut Panjaitan said that Japan International Cooperation Agency has offered loans of US$4.4 billion with a 40-year repayment period and an annual interest rate of less than 1 percent.
Xu told a news conference yesterday that China is ready to begin construction of the Jakarta-Bandung line next month and could complete it in three years.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
