"Japan will provide full support in the process of reconstruction after the threat of flood is over," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the press after talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace on Friday.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Japanese government has offered assistance to rebuild infrastructure damaged by big floods hitting Jakarta on Thursday.

Rain triggered floods have gripped Jakarta over the past few days damaging infrastructure vital for the city economies and houses.

Flood water from upstream area smashed one of embankments in the city yesterday sending swelling water over a big part of the city, inundating public facilities including the state palace.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who arrived here today on a two-day official visit expressed sympathy for the calamity caused by the flood.

"Japan will provide full support in the process of reconstruction after the threat of flood is over," Abe told the press after talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace on Friday.

He said Indonesia and Japan will cooperate in the project of Metropolitan Priority Area (MPA), and under the scheme Japan will cooperate fully in the development of infrastructure in Jakarta.

Japan considered development through MPA scheme important , therefore would push for the implementation of the project, he said.

Earlier, Indonesia and Japan reached an agreement on development of infrastructure in the Greater Jakarta Area through the MPA program valued at Rp410 trillion.

Chief economics minister Hatta Rajasa said in October last year, the private sector would provide 55 percent of the investment needed for the projects with the rest to be financed under under the Public-Private Partnership scheme.

The agreement was reached at a Third Steering Committee Meeting in Tokyo on Oct. 9 , 2012 discussing the Program of Metropolitan Priority Areas (MPA) in industrial sector .

Hatta and Industry Minister MS Hidayat and Tourism Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and business leaders from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry attended the meeting.

The Japanese delegations included Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Economic, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano and business leader .

There are 45 projects expected to be completed by 2020 under the program.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013