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Japan wants second chance in RI's first bullet train bidding
Japanese investors have requested the governmentâs permission to conduct another feasibility study for Indonesiaâs first high-speed railway project, a government official says
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apanese investors have requested the government's permission to conduct another feasibility study for Indonesia's first high-speed railway project, a government official says.
National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) transportation director Bambang Prihartono said on Wednesday that the request was made because Japan wanted to carry out the feasibility study under the same ground plan used by its competitor from China.
'It [Japan's ground plan] is different. They [Japan] want to have one more similar to the one China has,' he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Bambang said that the government had not responded to Japan's request.
He explained that the differences in the ground plan would impact the calculations of the length of the rail tracks and investment values.
Japan has just recently submitted a new proposal for the project that excludes Indonesian state funding in an attempt to topple China's recent bid.
The government is scheduled to decide on the contractor for the project that will connect Jakarta and the capital of West Java, Bandung, between August and September this year.
Bappenas head Sofyan Djalil said that the government had appointed an independent consulting firm to study both Japan and China's offers before giving recommendations to the government.
Bappenas said that Japan had valued the project at US$6.2 billion, while China gave a lower offer of $5.5 billion. (edn/ika)(++++)
