Japan interested in investing in airport, ports in Indonesia

JAKARTA - Japan has fully committed to investing in projects to expand airports and sea ports near Jakarta and West Java of Indonesia, a move expected to help its transport system, local media quoted a Japanese official as saying on Friday.

Japan's Deputy Minister for Transportation, Tourism and International Affairs Takashi Kitamura said his country was keen to team up with Indonesian officials to expand Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on an outskirts of Jakarta and the container terminal in Tanjung Priok of North Jakarta.

The deputy also expressed interest in constructing Cilamaya Port and a new airport, both in Karawang, West Java, among other plans.

He said their involvement in the projects aimed to help improve Indonesia's transportation sector.

"We see Indonesia has huge economy and it must be supported with a good system and infrastructure in transportation," Kitamura was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

"We have a lot of knowledge and experience in this area. With some modification [to our system] and continuing hard work, we believe Indonesia's transportation sector will be much better in the next 10 years, like Japan," he said in Yogyakarta of Indonesia.

The Indonesian government has attempted to build massive infrastructure facilities to boost economic efficiency and help spur economic growth by an annual average of 6.6 percent by 2014.

Indonesia has seen a growth in its transportation sector but infrastructure has yet to catch up with increasing levels of traffic.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II is set to expand the Soekarno-Hatta airport to handle 62 million passengers in 2014.

Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said Indonesia was delighted to work with Japan because both countries had engaged in good collaboration activities for years.

"Similarities between Japan and Indonesia are beneficial to collaborations between us. As archipelagic countries that are prone to natural disasters, we both face the same problems in transportation," Bambang said.