TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo received a visit from the special envoy of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Bogor Palace on Friday, January 19. In the meeting, the two countries discussed the continuation of infrastructure partnership.
Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said Abe's adviser Hiroto Izumi presented six reports to President Widodo. The reports were about the Patimban Port project, the Jakarta's mass rapid transit (MRT), the Jakarta-Surabaya semi-fast railway, the Trans-Sumatra highway, and the Masela block development.
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Basuki, who was present at the meeting, said the groundbreaking ceremony of the Patimban Port project, in Subang, West Java, will be conducted in May 2018.
"The soft opening is in March 2019," he said.
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Meanwhile, the first phase of the mass rapid transit (MRT) project in Jakarta, Basuki said, will be completed by the end of 2018. The MRT will be tested soon and scheduled for operations in 2019.
During the meeting, Japan conveyed its wish to immediately start the project in the Masela Block, Ambon. According to Basuki, Japan is also interested to take part in the development of Indonesia's fishery industries located in outer islands such as Natuna and Morotai.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI
