TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Swiss train manufacturing company Stadler Rail sealed an investment agreement with Indonesian train manufacturing company PT INKA in the form of a joint venture to establish a train factory in Banyuwangi, East Java.

The agreement was inked by Stadler Rail Executive Chairman Peter Spuhler and President Director of PT INKA Budi Noviantoro. It was witnessed by Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno and Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland Muliaman D. Hadad.

The agreement was signed at the Stadler Rail headquarters in Bussnang, Switzerland, according to a written statement issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Bern and received here on Saturday.

Minister Soemarno stated that the investment will strongly support the development of transportation facilities in Indonesia, taking into account the fact that number of train passengers in the country continues to rise annually.

Ambassador Hadad remarked that in addition to obtaining investment and technology transfer from Switzerland as well as meeting the needs of more trains in Indonesia, the products of the joint venture company also hold potential to be exported to other nations in the Asia region.

The total investment is valued to reach US$100 million to be channeled to produce 125 train carriages annually, and the production will be increased to one thousand carriages per year.

Indonesia's state railway company PT KAI will be the key buyer of train carriages produced by the joint venture company.

The train factory will be built in an area of 83 hectares in Banyuwangi City that has a seaport located as far as three kilometers from the factory, the work on which is expected to be completed in 2020.

Furthermore, in a bid to back human resource development to cater to the needs of this industrial workforce, Stadler Rail will also establish a railway vocational school in Indonesia.

ANTARA