Govt considers buying buses, ships and railways from China

By Johannes Simbolon

SHANGHAI, China (JP): The Indonesian government is considering buying buses, passenger and cargo ships and railways from China to improve the country's transportation system, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunication Agum Gumelar said on Sunday.

Agum told Indonesian reporters, who were visiting Shanghai to attend a computer exhibition, that the government was interested in buying China's transportation vehicles because they were much cheaper and no less sophisticated than those made by European countries.

He said the government came to an idea of buying transportation means from China following a recent visit to Indonesia by China's Vice President Hu Jin Tao.

He said during the visit Hu expressed his government's willingness to help Indonesia amid the economic crisis.

The Indonesian government, according to Agum, then proposed China help Indonesia in the transportation sector, pointing out that most of public buses and passenger and cargo ships being operated in the country were already too old and need replacement.

Agum added that the government also planned to build railway transportation network in Aceh.

"Since we don't have any money to buy the transportation vehicles. We then proposed a counter-trade payment system," Agum said.

Agum said the Chinese government had indicated that it could accept a counter trade payment scheme for the transportation means and they cited urea fertilizer from Aceh as one of the commodities that China would procure under such an arrangement.

"They said they need fertilizer which is produced in Aceh," Agum said.

He did not however specify why China preferred fertilizer from Aceh.

Aceh is home to two fertilizer plants, which is respectively owned by PT ASEAN Fertilizer and PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda.

Agum said Indonesia was also proposing China to help Indonesian factories to produce buses.

Thus far, Indonesia has bought public buses from various countries, including Germany, Sweden, Hungary, and India, and ships from Germany.

Agum arrived in China on Friday and would return to Jakarta on Monday.

Agum said he had visited several bus, railway factories and shipyards in Guangzhou and Shanghai.

He planned to meet on Sunday several top officials of the Chinese governments in Beijing, including the minister of transportation and minister of finance to further discuss about the purchase plan and the counter trade payment scheme.