Indonesian President Joko Widodo has been to see progress on the country’s first high-speed railway. It is being built using Chinese technology and is part of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative.
The president visited a new train station in West Java on Thursday. The line will connect the capital Jakarta with the city of Bandung, 140 kilometers away.
Construction started in 2016 and is about 90 percent complete. Train services are expected to start next June.
Joko said he hopes there will be efficient transport links in the future between ASEAN countries by ports, airports or high-speed trains such as the one being built.
The president said, “That has become a big idea in ASEAN so that connectivity between ASEAN countries can be carried out as quickly as possible to improve ASEAN competitiveness.”
Indonesia picked China to build the rail link in 2015 after heated bidding competition with Japan.
Services were supposed to start by 2019, but the project was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, technical problems and funding disputes. In the meantime, costs have soared.
Joko met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in July.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said the two agreed that the railway project would be completed in line with the new timetable.
Competition over infrastructure projects in Indonesia has been fierce in recent years. Japan financed Jakarta’s first rapid transit system, the MRT, which started operating in 2019. South Korea is hoping to be involved in future phases of the MRT project.
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