Still No Takers for the High-Speed Rail Debt

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan’s visit to China from September 15 to 18, 2026, brought him together with several old acquaintances. At a meeting in Beijing on Thursday, September 17, Luhut, who serves as Chair of the National Economic Council (DEN), met with Zheng Shanjie, Chair of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The NDRC is China’s development authority. In March 2015, the agency held talks with Indonesia’s Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to establish Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC). KCIC now operates the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, or Whoosh, a massive project that required US$7.26 billion, or about Rp130.3 trillion, in funding. The company was formed through a joint venture between China’s Beijing Yawan HSR consortium and Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI).

During his tenure as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment under President Joko Widodo, Luhut frequently met with Zheng. On April 4, 2023, for instance, a month after Zheng took over as NDRC Chair, Luhut met him in China. The meeting produced several decisions, including a reduction in the interest rate on Whoosh’s cost overrun debt from 4 percent to 3.4 percent. The US$6 billion principal, meanwhile, carried an interest rate of 2 percent.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Friday, September 18, 2026, Luhut said he had raised the Whoosh debt issue when he met Zheng again. He said an agency needs to follow up on efforts to restructure the debt, as President Prabowo Subianto has given the plan the green light. “The National Economic Council is helping to expedite the process,” he said.