The countrys first high speed railway is being built by an Indonesia-China consortium PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC).
"The study is to back up acceleration of the project development. The program is made in cooperation with a number of other agencies," head of BPPT Unggul Priyanto said at a ceremony signing a memorandum of understanding in speed train with KCIC and IRMA here on Tuesday.
Unggul said cooperation with PT KCIC, and IRMA would be focused on research and development of technology, education and training, utilization and application of existing results of engineering.
The scope of cooperation to support development of infrastructure and speed train industry covers construction of tracks, signal and communication, rolling stock, railway traction power supply, comprehensive maintenance, dispatching, safety and emergency response, passenger service, surveying technology, and disaster prevention technology.
Minister of State Enterprises (BUMN) Rini Soemarno said high speed mass transport facility has become a requirement, therefore, the high speed railway track project, that would serve as a stepping stone,has to be taken by the government.
This project is one of the major programs of the BUMN ministry, she said.
As the largest economy in ASEAN, Indonesia needs acceleration of transfer of technology, she said, adding cooperation between government agencies could speed up the process of improving the countrys mastery of high technology.
Research , Technology and Higher Education Minister M Nasir gave emphasis mainly on the function of the project as part of public service .
"Many have said this project is not feasible, but I see this as public goods as part of public transport service to cope with traffic jams. It is good if it makes profit but for me the service is the most important," Nasir said.
Industry Minister Saleh Husin said development of infrastructure in Indonesia still needs further studies by various agencies to develop the right mass transport.
The minister said Indonesia needs to learn from China which quickly mastered the technology of speed train it learned from Japan.
If the process of transfer of technology could proceed fast, the country could solve problem in mass transport in the country, he said.
From the beginning opposition was quite strong against the US$5.5 billion project of the countrys first high-speed train with 142.3 kilometer track over hilly areas that are vulnerable to landslides.
Observers and legislators also expressed concern about the Chinese-led consortiums proposal to ask for a government guarantee for the train project.
However, Rini Soemarno said that the government would only provide legal certainty for the project. The consortium did not ask for financial guarantee, she said, adding that it only asked for the issuance of a legal basis for the long-term operation of the train.
It was normal for investors to ask for legal guarantees for long investment projects to guarantee their permits would not be revoked, Rini said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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