Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya To Japan To Discuss MRT Project, Patimban Port, Makassar-Parepare Railway, And Bekasi Proving Ground

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi. (Photo: Doc. Kemenhub)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) encourages the Government of Japan to ensure the acceleration of cooperation in the implementation of a number of transportation infrastructure development projects in Indonesia, so that they can run according to the expectations and time targets that have been set.

"We want to hold a Government to Government (G to G) meeting with the Japanese Government so that it will further facilitate and accelerate Government to Business (G to B) and Business to Business (B to B) cooperation in the four transportation infrastructure development projects that are being collaborated. by the two countries," said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi in his statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, September 6.

The Minister of Transportation added, according to President Joko Widodo's direction to accelerate the completion of national infrastructure projects including transportation, we want the two countries' cooperation projects to continue to be accelerated and run according to plan.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya specifically went to Japan to meet directly with a number of parties in Japan such as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism of Japan (Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Tourism) AKABA Kazuyoshi, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan, Minister of State Japanese Foreign Affairs, Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, from the Japanese financial institution, namely the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Tadashi Maeda, as well as several other Japanese non-government parties.

The purpose of Budi Karya's arrival is to ensure the acceleration of a number of infrastructure development projects that the two countries are cooperating with can run well and according to plan, such as: the construction of the MRT Phase 2, the Makassar-Parepare Railway, Patimban Port, and the Bekasi BPLJSKB Proving Ground.

He hopes that the Japanese government can participate in encouraging Japanese companies and consortiums participating in the project to be more seriously committed to completing project development as expected. In addition, the Minister of Transportation also encouraged the Japanese Government to invite more Japanese companies to participate in the tender process for several transportation infrastructure development projects in Indonesia.

The Minister of Transportation explained that of the four projects that are being collaborated with Japan, two of them still need to be encouraged by the seriousness, commitment and hard efforts of the Japanese side, to complete the project according to the set target time. Meanwhile, two other projects are in progress and are expected to continue as planned and expected.

In the Phase 2 MRT project, there are still problems with the bid price being too high from Japanese contractors. For this reason, the Minister of Transportation asked the Japanese to make price adjustments with a fair and reasonable value so that physical development can immediately resume.

In the Patimban Port project, the Indonesian Government encourages the Japanese Government to participate in accelerating the formation of a Japan-Indonesia consortium in the operation of the Car Terminal and Container Terminal at the Patimban Port, namely between PT Pelabuhan Patimban Internasional and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, which is currently still in the negotiation process. In addition, the Minister of Transportation will also specifically seek to increase Indonesia's TKDN in the Patimban Port project in collaboration with Japan.

Meanwhile, Indonesia welcomes Japan's interest in participating in the PPP project for the construction of the Proving Ground in Bekasi. Currently, the project is in the process of being auctioned, with a Japanese company participating in the auction. The Indonesian government continues to hope that there will be other Japanese companies so that the competition and auction process can produce the best.

For the construction of the Patimban Port and Bekasi Proving Ground projects, the Minister of Transportation will also explore obtaining support for financing sources at competitive costs and being able to provide low loan interest either through investors or from Japanese financial institutions.

Then, the Makassar-Parepare Railway project has gone according to plan and is currently in the process of moving towards a Financial Close. This project is divided into five segments, and one segment is projected to be operational in late 2021 or early 2022.

The Indonesian government needs Japanese support in its full and ideal operation. Therefore, the Minister of Transportation will also take advantage of the opportunity to visit to seek information regarding the possibility of granting locomotives and train carriages from Japan.

"I hope that my visit to Japan can bring good, beneficial results and in particular can overcome some of the obstacles that occur, encourage the process as well as accelerate the development of Indonesian transportation infrastructure projects. We believe that the continuation of cooperation between the two countries is very important and beneficial to strengthen cooperative relations and improve "Economic relations have been going well so far, especially in helping the national economic recovery efforts during this pandemic," he said.

The Minister of Transportation landed in Tokyo on Sunday, September 5 and was greeted by the Japanese Ambassador. The working visit will last until Wednesday 8 September. The Indonesian delegation who attended apart from the Ministry of Transportation were from the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment and the Ministry of Investment.

For information, while in Japan, all meetings are held only in the hotel environment, except for meetings with Japanese Ministers. All Indonesian delegates are required to implement a very strict and very specific COVID-19 health protocol following the travel bubble rules that apply in Japan and Indonesia as well as the agreement between the two countries.