Indonesia and Japan are forging closer ties to stick to their commitment of hastening the development of medium-speed railway facilities covering the Jakarta-Surabaya route.
On Saturday, Antara News quoted the Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Masafumi Ishii, saying large-scale projects could run well, while lauding the support from the Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
"I will try again to make big projects beneficial for both countries -- Indonesia and Japan," Ishi said, as reported.
The Chairman of the Vice Presidential Expert Team Sofyan Wanandi said the implementation of work schedules, which were drawn up by the Ministry of Public Works and was led by the Indonesian team with the Japanese team taking lead in the feasibility study. Sofyan said the joint feasibility study would accelerate the railway construction process while establishing the necessary investment. He added that the discussion has been panning out well while plans were heading in the right direction.
To further boost the development of Japanese investment projects in Indonesia including the construction of the medium-speed train, the vice president is expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister in Shinzo Abe today.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Eid holiday this year, PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka) are completing the constructions of 66 carriages ordered by PT KAI, a state-owned rail company. The 66 carriages will be used for transportation during the holiday season.
PT Inka received funding of Rp1.69 trillion from PT Bank Mandiri and PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur. PT Inka's CSR, Public Relations, and Senior Manager Secretary Cholik Mochamad Zam Zam said six train sets which translate to 66 units of transportation are undergoing its construction process.
The six train sets are expected to be operational on June 14, while Cholik said the additional train sets would be able to increase its passenger capacity to up to 4,500 during the festive season.
Cholik added that PT Inka was also in the midst of completing PT Kai's procurement of a variety of 438 carriages. 100 units are planned to be delivered by this year while the rest would be completed next year.
