Indonesia expects to make use of Austria`s experience and implement it here."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Austria will set up a Joint Working Group for the Development of Infrastructure and Transportation to support Austrias plan to invest in the mass transportation sector in Indonesia.
"Austria has an integrated transportation system which connects its railway, land and sea transportation. Indonesia expects to make use of Austrias experience and implement it here," Indonesias Transportation minister EE Mangindaan said, after signing an MoU with Austrias Minister of Transportation, Innovation and Technology Doris Bures at the Indonesian Transportation Ministrys building in Central Jakarta on Monday.
Mangindaan expressed the hope that the cooperation with Austria will support the Indonesian governments plan to improve the mass transportation system which can connect every area in the country.
However, the minister did not specifically mention the number of investments from Austria in the development of the transportation sector in Indonesia.
"We are still at the level of forming a joint committee (for the transportation cooperation). The team will then work together in supervising future projects and eliminating challenges in implementing the projects, if any," Mangindaan said.
The minister added that the current infrastructure project which the Indonesian government plans to construct is a railway system in Sumatra and the Kalimantan islands.
Bures said that he understands that Indonesia needs to continuously develop its transportation sector in line with the growth of its economy.
"With a long-term experience in developing technology in the transportation sector, Austria is ready to invest in Indonesia," the minister said.
The Indonesian central government wants to speed up the implementation of the project to build a double rail track in southern Sumatra.
The railway project, meant mainly for transporting coal from Tanjung Enim to the seaport of Tanjung Api-api in South Sumatra, has long been delayed.
"The implementation of the project would be facilitated by simplifying the licensing procedure," the Transportation Ministrys Head of Investment Division of the Railway Directorate General Prasetyo B said.
Prasetyo added that the government encourages an immediate implementation of the project to facilitate coal transport.
State-owned coal producer Bukit Asam has a large coal mine in Tanjung Enim, but the transport problem has been a big hurdle in its plan to increase production.
Prasetyo said that a number of investors are interested in carrying out the project but an agreement is yet to be reached.
He said investors are required to cooperate with the provincial administration or a state company. He also said there is no regulatory restriction, adding that the government is ready to help remove any hurdles.
(Reporting by Muhammad Razi Rahman/translating and editing Amie Fenia Arimbi/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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