TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Investors are awaiting government assertiveness in continuing the bullet train project. Economic and Development Attache for Japanese Embassy to Indonesia Yoshiko Kijima say the Japanese government is just waiting for the interest of private parties because it does not have a state-owned company that can be appointed to work on the project.

According to Kijima, the Japanese government is also having a hard time deciding because the State-Owned Ministry has yet published specifics of the project plan, whereas it has been named by President Joko Widodo to continue the Jakarta-Bandung bullet train project plan with a B-to-B business concept.

Kijima said that because there has not been any announcement from the State-Owned Ministry, there has not been any action from Japanese investors who are actually interested in the project.

Based on the information published in the Secretary Cabinet’s website on Tuesday, the President said the Jakarta-Bandung bullet train project is not canceled. The project will continue but it will not be using the state-budget and insurance from the country.

Currently, the President said that there are two alternatives to continue the project. Its options are either using a 350km/h high-speed train or a 250km/h intermediate-speed train. However, the continuation of the project that has a political impact must be calculated wisely.

At the beginning of September, the government has declined two bullet-train project proposals destination Jakarta-Bandung from China and Japan. Both proposals were rejected as it plans to use the State-Budget. If the project is to continue, the government suggests in using the intermediate-speed trains (200-250km/h) with a B-to-B concept.

KHAIRUL ANAM