During the visit, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan is scheduled to meet Japan’s top officials, including its foreign minister, transportation minister, defense minister and chief of staff to the prime minister.

Discussions will touch on problems hampering a mega seaport project in Patimban, West Java and semi-high speed railway connecting Jakarta and Surabaya, of which financing will derive from Japan.

“We want to finalize these projects. We expect these things [issues with the projects] to be settled as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit [Indonesia] in January next year,” Luhut recently said.

Luhut apparently pointed out pending administrative issues surrounding the Patimban project, such as the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) and detailed engineering design (DED), which are still under way.

The future Patimban Port will be located about 70 kilometers from the Karawang Industrial Estate and Bekasi in West Java, where many Japanese industrial firms, particularly automotive manufacturers, operate.

Once finished by 2019, the container port will be able to handle 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), which will be further expanded to 7.5 million TEUs by 2027.

The port was earlier set to lie in Cilamaya, also in West Java, but the plan was scrapped as it would disrupt the operations of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina.

According to a previous government estimate, the Patimban project will cost US$3.08 billion.

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) said recently that $1.7 billion to finance the deep sea project was expected from foreign loans, while the government would provide $595 million to build supporting facilities.

The semi-high speed railway, on the other hand, is projected to require $2.6 billion in loans from Japan for the first phase.

The project is significant for Japan after it lost a bid against China for the construction of a high-speed railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, earlier this year.

The Jakarta-Surabaya semi-high speed railway, the feasibility study for which will be carried out jointly by Indonesia and Japan, seeks to revitalize existing infrastructure serving the two big cities, cutting travel time from 12 hours to three-and-a-half hours only.

Luhut further said another key issue to be addressed during the visit was the ongoing negotiations for Masela block in Maluku.

Japanese gas firm Inpex Corporation requested earlier incentives to run the onshore Masela block, including the cost recovery for its off-shore development plan worth $1.2 billion and the extension of 10 years from 2028 when the contract is supposed to terminate.

Luhut added that the government had proposed only four years for the contract extension.

“We will offer several other [oil and gas] blocks to Japan,” he said, citing a block in East Natuna as an example.

In response to the planned discussion in Japan, Inpex senior communications and relations manager Usman Slamet expressed his appreciation for the government’s understanding of the necessary conditions to enable the Masela project to be commercially viable for investment.

“We are optimistic the government will make the best decision,” he said.

Japanese Embassy counselor for information and culture Ryo Nakamura said Japan “was looking forward to the discussion and waiting for the policy that Indonesia would be taking”.

Other issues on the table during the visit include maritime cooperation, such as the construction of a fish market in Natuna, Riau, tourism development in Morotai, Maluku, and the construction of Sabang Port in Aceh.

Popular

Indonesia may offer dual citizenship to attract overseas workers, minister says

Ministry unveils new funding initiative for climate-resilient health system

Sri Mulyani vows to improve customs services