Bali Sets Train Project Investors Worth 20 Billion US Dollars

DENPASAR - The Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Bali has set partner investors for a train-based mass public transportation project with an investment value of all development phases reaching 20 billion US dollars or around Rp. 325 trillion.

President Director of PT Sarana Bali Dwipa Jaya (SBDJ) Ari Askhara as an extension of the regional government, said that his party together with selected investors would gradually build all subway transportation infrastructure.

"After assessing assisted by consultants, we got qualified investors, namely PT Bumi Indah Prima as well as the main investors who coordinate other investors to join," he said, Wednesday, July 24.

Later the construction of subways or subways in Bali will be divided into four phases, where the first and second phases are targeted to be completed in 2031 with an investment value of 10.8 billion US dollars or around Rp175 trillion.

"The first phase is Ngurah Rai Airport-Central Parking-Seminyak-Canggu, the second phase is Ngurah Rai-Nusa Dua Airport, the third phase is Sanur, the fourth is Ubud, that's a total of 20 billion US dollars," he said.

The former President Director of Garuda Indonesia explained the process of searching for investors through a non-conventional approach, where candidates who want to develop are invited to submit a vision, business plan, project structure, and others are then qualified.

Initially there were five investors who volunteered from both global, domestic, and BUMN companies, they also sent documents according to conditions.

Namun, dengan dibantu peran konsultan Pemprov Bali melalui PT SBDJ menunjuk investor pemenang yang berani investasi tanpa menggunakan jaminan pembiayaan negara.

Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa added that this qualification is profitable, because it will not cause debt to the state or regions, it will actually bring benefits.

"Investors are brave, because they have a calculation for that. I know where investors can earn money to return all investment costs, a form like this that we hope can be done elsewhere in the country," he said.

Meanwhile, the Acting Governor of Bali Sang Made Mahendra Jaya only left a message so that later PT SBDJ, who was appointed as the manager and investor, would think about the local community.

He asked that later the development of subway transportation could absorb as much local labor as possible.

"We can understand that investors are interested because the market is clearly different from other regions, then traffic from tickets, but the local Balinese people don't have to be expensive tickets, they must be subsidized by companies for the Balinese people who go up," said Sang Made.