Fri, 18 Mar 2011

From:

Japan pledges big projects in Indonesia despite disaster at home


A senior Japanese government official said on Thursday that his government would continue the Japan-assisted infrastructure projects in Indonesia despite devastating disaster at home.

Metropolitan Areas (MPA) was one of the Japan-assisted projects in the country.

"Even though Japan was severely hit by earthquake and tsunami, we would continue the MPA project in Indonesia," Japanese Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Makiko Kikuta said on the sidelines of his meeting with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa here.

Commenting on Kikuta's statement, Hatta said that Indonesia believes that Japan is capable to finance the rebuilding and reconstruction of infrastructure devastated by the recent disaster at home with its own funds, without having to withdraw its investment in other countries.

He said during the meeting the two ministers had approved three agendas regarding the Japan-assisted infrastructure projects, including determining the fast-track projects, completing the feasibility study of MPA within one year and setting a high-level meeting in March this year.

Hatta said that the private sector would be involved in Japan- assisted projects in Indonesia through Private Partnership Project (PPP) scheme.

He estimated that Japan's total investment in these projects may reach 20 billion US dollars, adding that Japan's investment in Indonesia is among the top five foreign sources.

The projects cover industrial and energy sectors, road construction, Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) in the capital city.