TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - During its work visit to Japan on December 21, and December 22, 2016, the Indonesian government confirmed that several infrastructure projects initiated in cooperation with Japan is currently waiting to be finalized.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that discussions related to the cooperation in the construction of the new Patimban Port is almost at an agreement, and the finalization of the port project has been included in the foreign loan priority list of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
In addition, Luhut said that a the Indonesian Transportation Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a Memorandum of Undertanding (MoU) on detail engineering.
"For the Indonesian part, the Transportation Ministry will draft a DED [Detail Engineering Design] in cooperation with the Technology Evaluation and Implementation Agency [BPPT], Pelindo, and Japan. The project value reaches US$3,088. [The project] will allow West Java economy to grow," Luhut said in a press release dated December 26, 2016.
Luhut also stated that maritime cooperation signed during the visit was a follow up to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year.
"The cooperation [is held] to improve maritime economy and partnership between Indonesia and Japan in maritime industry [sector]," Luhut said.