VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ministry of Transportation and Japan International Cooperation Agency -JICA in Jakarta on Friday (July 27) signed a contract for the construction of Patimban port  for package 1 in the form of construction of container terminals and four wheel vehicles worth Rp6 trillion from a total of Rp8.9 trillion. The development of Patimban harbor in Subang regency, West Java province into the National Strategic Project will begin in the near future. In his opening remarks at the signing ceremony of the Port of Patimban of package-1 project in Jakarta, Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi said that the Patimban port project signifies the close relationship between Indonesia and Japan which this year celebrates the 60th anniversary. He also said that the package-1 project is the largest job of all packages of Patimban port’s development project. He believes that the first phase work of the package 1 is completed in less than 12 months so that motor vehicle and roll-on-roll terminal can be operated in early 2019. Minister Budi also hoped that the Patimban port will ease the distribution of goods to Jakarta, as well as create new fast mobility in logistics connectivity from home and abroad. Patimban port is one of the national strategic projects according to Presidential Regulation No. 47. It is a strategic project in Subang, West Java. And we know that this project is a project with Official Development Assistant or ODA Loan from Japan and signifies a close relationship between Indonesia and Japan, marking 60 years of relations between Indonesia and Japan, said Minister Budi. On the same occasion, the Japanese Economic Counselor for Indonesia, Mari Takada said that his side is committed to cooperating with the development of Patimban port, because this will also help the Japanese economy, considering the location of the port is very close to the manufacturing area of Japanese companies in Indonesia. Many Japanese companies set up manufacturing plants in Cikarang, Karawang, and Purwakarta in West Java whose distance from the port of Patimban is fewer than 150 kilometers. Mari Takada pointed out that Patimban port has the advantage of being able to overcome the traffic congestion that has occurred along the distribution channel to Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta. He also stated that Japan fully supports the port development project by considering future investment prospects. Mari further explained that the cooperation between Indonesia and Japan in the Patimban port is not just a matter of financing. Both countries agreed that this cooperation could boost the economies of both countries. He added that besides cooperation in project development, Japan and Indonesia agreed to jointly operate this port.