Japan has expressed its commitment to expediting the processes related to the development of the multi-billion-dollar deep-sea port in Patimban, West Java, following the conclusion of a preliminary study for the joint project.

Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yasuaki Tanizaki claimed that the feasibility study for the project, conducted by the Indonesian and Japanese governments, had been completed. The study, for example, laid out how the port will support the economic development of the surrounding area in the next 10 years.

“Our conclusion is the seaport is required. It is compatible with the Tanjung Priok and Kalibaru [ports],” he said on Tuesday, referring to the country’s biggest trade gateway in Jakarta and its newly extended New Priok Port, respectively.

Japan is also in the process of drafting the detailed engineering design (DED) for the project, expected to be finished in the beginning of 2017, Ambassador Tanizaki said.

Meanwhile, the economic counselor with the Japanese Embassy, Mari Takada, said Japan would pursue “the quickest method” to expedite the DED.

The designated Patimban Port, located about 70 kilometers from the Karawang Industrial Estate and Bekasi in West Java via the Pantura toll road and 110 km via the Cipali toll road, will have a container capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) once it is partly completed by 2019 and will be expanded to 7.5 million TEUs by 2027, half that of Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port.

The Japan and Indonesia joint project is considered one of the national strategic projects, as it is expected to help ease the flow of goods and services into the country.

The megaproject was previously planned to be built in Cilamaya, also in West Java, but was moved to Subang over safety concerns.

The government expects the new port to provide more ease in the distribution of goods shipped into the country, which has been plagued by staggering logistics costs.

During a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in May, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also extended a guarantee to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Japan could develop the project.

Japan has been conducting a feasibility study on the port since July, adding to the previous feasibility study on the project done by the Transportation Ministry.

The exact figure for the project’s cost is still being calculated and is to be included in the DED. The government previously estimated it to hit US$3.08 billion, with the expectation that $2.2 billion of the total project cost would be covered by a Japanese loan.

However, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) slashed the limit of foreign loan participation in the project to just $1.7 billion, at least until 2019, citing administrative reasons.

Separately, Transportation Ministry port director Mauritz HM Sibarani said the current timeline for the Patimban project was “on schedule”.

“We are expecting the loan agreement can be completed by March or April [next year],” he said, adding that the timeline was made to adjust to Japan’s financial year. He cited that the land procurement was also ongoing, with a total of 300 hectares to be procured by the regional government, although the land for an 8 km access road was already secured.

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