Six cities to go ahead with Asian jet project

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Damar Harsanto, Bandung, Jakarta

Half of the 12 members of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 expressed their commitment on Wednesday to go ahead with the development of jet-engine passenger planes during their visit to state aircraft-maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia in Bandung.

"Although there has no sign that we can immediately realize the project, we are all committed to developing passenger planes for Asia," Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said after the visit to the plant.

The excursion to Bandung is one of the events on the agenda for the fourth meeting of the network; a forum for major Asian cities in the 21st Century. The leaders of the major cities will return home on Thursday.

Ishihara said it was deplorable that the aeronautical industry in Asia had long been dominated by American aircraft manufacturers, leaving Asian countries merely as a production bases for components.

"PT Dirgantara has already developed small-sized aircraft, something that has yet to be done in Japan. Unfortunately, I have heard that the project to produce the small aircraft project has been dropped by the International Monetary Fund in the wake of the (Indonesian) financial crisis," Ishihara said.

Should the company go ahead with commercial production, "Japan would become one among those (countries) who are willing to procure such small aircraft", he said.

Tokyo is the organizer of the project that is aimed at helping to develop the aeronautical industry in Asia amid rising demand for air travel in the region.

The creation of a 100-seat plane flying between major cities in the region would become a symbol of cooperation between Asian countries, Ishihara said.

Five other cities participating in the project are Jakarta, Delhi, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said the small aircraft could cruise for three hours without refueling. Should it be produced commercially, the five participating cities would be obliged to purchase it.

PT Dirgantara president Edwin Sudarmo said his company could be ready soon to meet international orders.

"We have mastered the technology, therefore, we know what to do (to produce the plane)," he said.

The development of small aircraft was one of the projects followed up in the fourth plenary meeting of the ANMC 21.

The meeting was concluded on Tuesday with the issuance of the Jakarta Declaration.

The statement highlighted the importance of a joint efforts to combat infectious diseases and terrorism.

The meeting was marred by a no-show from the Beijing delegates, who boycotted the meeting when they learned Taipei was likely to host the 2006 meeting after Beijing in 2005.

"As of today, the Beijing delegation has yet to sign the declaration," meeting spokesman Catur Laswanto said on Wednesday.

Sutiyoso, who chaired the plenary meeting, said earlier he would ask the secretariat of the ANMC 21 in Tokyo to decide which city would host next year's plenary meeting if Beijing did not sign the declaration.