T

he Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has reiterated its strong commitment to supporting Indonesia'€™s infrastructure development, one of the main priorities of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s economic program.

During a recent meeting with the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the independent Japanese governmental agency showed its new commitment to supporting infrastructure projects proposed in the national medium-term development plan (RPJMN) for the period of 2015-2019, Bappenas chief Andrinof Chaniago said

The meeting with Bappenas was held shortly after JICA met President Jokowi on Thursday. In the meeting, the president hoped Japan would support connectivity-related projects, said JICA president Akihiko Tanaka, referring to '€œJokowi'€™s maritime axis vision as the main program for us to support'€.

'€œJICA has a strong commitment and its officials appreciate our vision and mission in the blueprint. The meeting shows that foreigners are supporting what we have planned, not based on what they expected us to plan,'€ Andrinof said.

As one of Indonesia'€™s largest investors, investment by Japan amounted to US$2.7 billion in 2014, or about 9.5 percent of the total Rp 307 trillion ($24.12 billion) realized last year, data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) shows.

During its five-year term, the Jokowi administration plans to initiate infrastructure projects worth a total of Rp 5.5 quadrillion, according to the RPJMN formulated by Bappenas.

Andrinof said a further meeting between Bappenas and JICA officials would be held to discuss the details of the projects that the agency would be interested in financing, especially outside Java, saying that '€œJapan is interested in various projects in the energy and maritime sectors, such as power plants and seaports, as well as education.'€

In particular, Andrinof said JICA showed its interest in supporting the development of a submarine electricity-transmission cable connecting Sumatra and Java

'€œIn education, they may want to finance the development of maritime colleges and techno-parks that we want to build in various regions. We probably need Japan'€™s technical support for techno-parks,'€ he said.

Andrinof added that protection of environmental and productive lands mentioned in the blueprint'€™s vision and mission were some of the values JICA would use as the basis for its cooperation with the Indonesian government.

Apart from discussing future projects, Andrinof said officials from both institutions also planned to evaluate the key strengths and weaknesses of JICA'€™s existing projects that had been ongoing in the country for dozens of years.

One of JICA'€™s existing projects is the Rp 16-trillion Jakarta mass rapid transit (MRT) project. During the meeting with Bappenas, JICA also expressed its commitment to supporting the second phase of the project, which includes the construction of the north-south line, Andrinof said.

The MRT project comprises a north-south line from Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta to Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta as well as the future development of an east-west line. Financing for the north-south line is divided into two phases, of which the first is funded by a ¥125 billion ($1.05 billion) soft loan from JICA and another $143 million from the city budget.

Bappenas deputy for development financing Wismana Adi Suryabrata said JICA financed projects in a variety of ways, namely government-to-government as well as private-public-partnerships, in which part of the funds came from the government.