Indonesia, Japan set to discuss Jakarta-Surabaya railway project

BOGOR (Indonesia) — Indonesia and Japan have agreed to an initial discussion for a railway project connecting the South-east Asian nation’s capital and its second-biggest city, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday.

Both countries also plan to develop the Masela gas block in Indonesia’s Maluku province and Patimban port in West Java, said Mr Widodo after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Indonesia’s presidential palace in Bogor.

The increase in Japanese investment in Indonesia has been “very significant”, said Mr Widodo, pointing out that it more than doubled to US$4.5 billion (S$6.4 billion) in January-September of last year.

Mr Abe’s visit to Indonesia is the latest stop on a four-nation tour since Thursday that has already taken him to the Philippines and Australia. He flies to Vietnam today.

Indonesia’s Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told Reuters in October that the government had invited Japan to submit proposals to work on a railway line connecting Jakarta to Surabaya. The project aimed to slash journey times by more than half, to about five hours on the roughly 600km route.

Japan has historically been one of Indonesia’s biggest investors, but was dealt a blow in 2015 when the South-east Asian nation awarded China a US$5.5 billion high-speed train project linking Jakarta with Bandung.

Both Mr Abe and Mr Widodo yesterday agreed to work closely with United States President-elect Donald Trump to ensure stability in Asia.

Mr Abe said it is important to solve the South China Sea conflict peacefully and Japan will advance cooperation in strengthening Indonesia’s maritime security.

“About the South China Sea conflict; we assert the importance of the principle of solving a dispute peacefully,” said Mr Abe.

Japan is not a claimant to the disputed waterway although it is involved in a dispute with China over a set of islands in the East China Sea, known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu.

China has laid claim to almost the entire South China Sea, a vital trade route and a lucrative fishing area. This has led to tensions with Asian neighbours and Washington, which has vowed to uphold the rule of law and freedom of navigation.

Indonesia is also not a claimant to the South China Sea, but China’s assertions to territory have drifted into Indonesia’s Natuna Islands area, raising the potential for dispute.

In March last year, a Chinese coast guard vessel collided with a Chinese fishing boat suspected of illegal fishing as it was being towed by the Indonesian authorities, setting off terse public exchanges between the countries. Three months later, Indonesia’s navy detained a Chinese vessel off the Natunas and arrested seven fishermen. AGENCIES