Jakarta, Aug 27 (Antara) - Japan has come up with a new proposal on the development of high speed trains (HST) in Indonesia amidst stiff competition from China to win the project.
Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, who accompanied President Joko Widodo, to receive the Japanese delegation at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday said Japan had raised a new offer during a meeting with the President.
"Japan has offered that it can accept the requirement for a reduced guarantee on the project from a full guarantee," Nasution stated on Wednesday.
Japan also expressed readiness to accelerate the completion of the project from its previously proposed schedule. "They said it will be difficult to accelerate the project in terms of a time frame if an environmental study is included. They basically have several (new) proposals. I cannot explain it all yet. There is also the matter of transfer of technology," the minister said.
The new offer proposed by Japan is related to a new development in the Jakarta-Bandung high speed train project deal.
Nasution acknowledged that Japan and China had made new offers several times. The government would therefore continue to consider the new offers, even though the assessment process for the offers would be closed soon.
The assessment will be carried out by a number of consultants, based on certain criteria. The consultant team will reveal the results of its assessment, based on which a ministerial team will take a decision that will be submitted to the President, who will announce the winner of the bid for the project.
Darmin also confirmed the possibility of the winner of the project being announced next week. "Consultants are expected to table their reports the day after tomorrow," Nasution said on Wednesday.
The Japanese government is lobbying Indonesian President Joko Widodo over the planned construction of Indonesia's Jakarta-Bandung fast train project. Japanese Prime Minister's Special Envoy Hiroto Izumi met President Widodo at the presidential office on Wednesday to discuss the project.
"Probably, everyone knows that we are facing stiff competition from China to win the project," Izumi noted after meeting the head of state. He said that Wednesday's meeting was the second of its kind after the first one held in July 2015.
Izumi stated that during the meeting, his side handed over a letter from the Japanese prime minister. "I brought a letter from the Japanese prime minister to hand over to the president," he remarked.
The Japanese Prime Minister's special envoy also met with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli.
"Izumi, the special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has met us to discuss what can be done to improve cooperation between Japan and Indonesia. We also discussed about the prospects of building the fast train project between Jakarta and Bandung," Minister Ramli stated.
The Japanese delegation was accompanied by a team of representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia.
According to Izumi, one of the issues he discussed with the President is the fast train project where Japan is facing tough competition from China.
"I informed the president that Japan is willing to assist Indonesia. The fast train project will be managed by Indonesia itself and will benefit its people," the Japanese prime minister's advisor stated.
Japan is aware that Indonesia is now in the phase of assessing the two proposals submitted by China and Japan. The proposals are being evaluated by a team of independent consultants before a decision would be made on the winner of the project.
"The president said that the independent consultants are assessing the proposals, and an appraiser team will report to him. The president will decide after receiving the report from the appraiser team," Izumi added.
The Indonesian fast train project is similar to Japan's Shinkansen train network, with a cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour, and will cover the Jakarta-Bandung route. However, in the Japanese feasibility study, it was suggested to extend the connectivity until Cirebon (a district town in West Java near the border with Central Java) and Surabaya, East Java.
For the Jakarta-Bandung route, the fast trains will reduce the travel time from three hours to 37 minutes.
Japan had earlier conducted a feasibility study. According to the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the Japanese feasibility study had put the investment value for the project at US$6.2 billion.
China conducted a feasibility study after Japan. In the Chinese proposal, the investment needed for the construction of the high speed train development was only US$5.5 billion.
The difference in the protocols used in the feasibility studies conducted by Japan and China reveal the differences in the length of tracks and investment value for the Jakarta-Bandung fast train project
However, Japan has sought the Indonesian government's approval to conduct another feasibility study. It has requested approval to conduct a study under the same ground used by China
"The ground plan in the Japanese feasibility study is different from that used in the Chinese study. Japan now wants to make feasibility study under the same ground used by China," Bambang Prihartono, the transportation director of the National Development Planning Ministry, stated.
He said that the government has not yet arrived at a decision regarding the request of the Japanese investors. It aims to arrive at a decision within August and September 2015, to partner with either Japan or China.
Yet, Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said on Wednesday that the government will probably announce the winner of the project next week.***3***(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/B/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 27-08-2015 19:59:1 |
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