Russia to build 575-kilometer railway track in E Kalimantan
9 hours ago | 808 Views
Balikpapan, E Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Russian Railways and its subsidiary company in Indonesia, PT Kereta Api Borneo, have planned to develop a 575-kilometers train track that would cross four sub-districts in the area, with a total investment of US$2 million.
"There will be two train tracks; first is the Northern line of 305 kilometers and the second is the Southern line of 270 kilometers," CEO of PT Kereta Api Borneo, Sergey Kuznetsov, stated in Balikpapan on Monday.
The Northern line will connect the Tabang area in Kutai Kartanegara, with Maloy in the coast of East Kutai, while the Southern line will start from Melak in West Kutai and end in Buluminung in the Penajam Paser Utara area.
The construction itself is expected to be completed by 2022.
"At the moment, we have completed a number of studies including geophysics and hydrology. We have also tested 2 thousand different soil samples along the track locations," Head of the companys Business and Development Vladimir Volkov noted.
Both tracks will be used for the transportation of goods, including natural resources such as Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and coal.
Five years after transportation of goods, the railway would start carrying passengers as well.
Governor of East Kalimantan Awang Faroek Ishak explained that there should be a complex process to gain permit and a more comprehensive cooperation with PT Kereta Api Indonesia for the carriage to be able to transport passengers.
The governor further stated that at the end of the Northern line in Maloy of the East Kutai coast, a harbor will be built.
"There will be a harbor, coal stockpile, and moving facilities such as rolling belts and cranes, both in Maloy and Buluminung. They will have the capacity of 5 million tons per year," he elaborated.
Furthermore, it has been previously reported that along the sides of both planned tracks, there will be mines owned by large mining corporations.
For example, there is a mine owned by PT Gunung Bayan Pratama, a corporation owned by a Malaysian businessman Dato Low Tuck Kwong, along the Southern line.
On the Northern line track location, there are mines that are being managed by PT Kiradin and Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), which manages the largest open pit coal mining in the world.
The track will also pass by a number of palm oil plantations that are managed by the company.
"We are allowing PT Kereta Api Borneo to speak Business-to-Business with the corporations mentioned. As a representative of the government, we will provide as much facility as we can," Awang explained.
Russian investors are no strangers to Indonesias region of East Kalimantan. In the era of the countrys first president Soekarno, Russians had taken up a number of projects.
One of the well-known ones until today include the Balikpapan-Samarinda road project, which is 110 kilometers long.
A lot of expatriates and senior citizens still refer to the road as the Russian road, while today, people refer to it as the Soekarno-Hatta road. (*)
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Indonesia-Iran agree to finalize trade negotiation in 2017
9 hours ago | 698 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Iran have agreed to finalize negotiation on the Preferential Trade Agreement (II-PTA) by the end of 2017, to expand access and diversify of exported products to non-traditional markets.
Chief of the Indonesian team in the negotiation Made Ayu Marthini stated that a wider access for Indonesian as well as Iranian products to the market is expected to increase bilateral trade to US$2 billion per year.
"To benefit the momentum of implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Indonesia and Iran have shared optimism to finalize II-PTA by the end of 2017," Made noted in a statement here on Monday.
Indonesia and Iran on Sunday held the third negotiation on II-PTA in Tehran, Iran, after it was stalled in 2015.
During the negotiation, both countries discussed draft text on II-PTA, modality, and request list to facilitate products that would have the preference to be exported to each countries.
"Thus business operators from both Indonesia and Iran could get maximum benefit from the II-PTA," made remarked.
Both countries have sought the agreement to set payment mechanism in the transaction; thus, businessmen would not only enjoy tariff reduction but also exemption or reduction of transaction cost when the II-PTA is implemented.
II-PTA is an agreement between Indonesia and Iran to reduce or abolish some export tariffs from both countries. The legal basis for the agreement was signed in 2005 by both trade ministers in Tehran.
In 2008, the two countries have agreed to establish the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) to negotiate the II-PTA.
The first negotiation was held in 2010, followed by the second negotiation in 2015.
Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Iran during January-March has increased significantly by 457.36 percent, compared to the same period of 2016.
The total trade between the two countries reached US$338.6 million in 2016, up by 23.99 percent compared to US$273.1 million of trade in 2015.
Based on a data of the Indonesian Trade Ministry, bilateral trade between Indonesia and Iran during 2012 was recorded at US$1.3 billion, down by US$568.4 million in 2913.
The trade dropped further to US$448.7 million in 2014, and reached its record low in 2015.(*)
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Turkey, Indonesia to forge closer ties in various fields
1 hour ago | 299 Views
Pewarta: Fardah
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and one of its closest partners, Turkey, have established cooperation in several fields, particularly in the economic, political, education, and strategic industries.
In fact, Turkish-Indonesian relations can be traced back to the 12th century when Turkish Islamic scholars had visited Indonesia to spread Islamic teachings.
To strengthen the bilateral ties further, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had made a state visit to Indonesia from July 30 to August 1, 2015, coinciding with the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
On July 6, this year, it was President Joko Widodos (Jokowis) turn to pay a reciprocal visit to Turkey. Jokowi commenced his state visit to Turkey by holding a one-on-one meeting with Erdogan.
The two presidents discussed economic development and security cooperation, including on counterterrorism efforts.
They also witnessed the signing of documents of agreements on health and economic cooperation at the White Palace in Ankara.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi signed the document of agreement on health cooperation, while Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita signed the document of inauguration of negotiations on Indonesian-Turkish Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IT-CEPA).
"I welcome the signing of the two cooperation agreement documents between the governments of Indonesia and Turkey in the fields of health and the launch of negotiations on Indonesian and Turkish Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement," Jokowi stated.
Indonesia is keen to enhance cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, and economic by inaugurating IT-CEPA, which had been discussed since 2015.
"We have agreed to restore the positive trend in trade and investment, among others, through the IT-CEPA," President Jokowi noted.
President Erdogan expressed interest in establishing cooperation and partnership in various fields with Indonesia.
It is becoming increasingly important for Turkey and Indonesia to forge closer cooperation and partnership in various fields, Erdogan noted.
The countries also agreed to prioritize bilateral cooperation in several other fields, such as defense, energy, and counterterrorism.
Defense cooperation between the two countries has delivered significant results, with the launch of a medium-class tank called Kaplan, produced by Indonesia and Turkey.
In addition to the collaboration on tank production, both countries have agreed to work together in the aviation sector through the inking of a memorandum of understanding between PT DI and Turkish Aerospace Industry.
In the field of energy cooperation, Turkey is supporting Indonesia to supply electricity to regions in several Indonesian islands. Turkish electricity supply vessels have been operational in Medan, Amurang, Bolok, and Ambon to provide power to those regions.
After holding the bilateral meeting with Erdogan, the Indonesian head of state met the chief executive officers (CEOs) of three Turkish strategic industrial companies to discuss investment expansion.
The three CEOs were from Karadeniz Holding, Hitay Energy Holding, and Turkish Aerospace Industries.
On the occasion, the president also attended a business forum along with prospective investors and businesspersons who have invested in Indonesia.
Also present at the forum were Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rosan P. Roeslani and some entrepreneurs from Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Minister Lukita confirmed that Indonesia will remove factors that hinder trade with Turkey, including import and export duties on some commodities agreed by the two countries.
"Our trade value with Turkey reached US$1.3 billion in 2016, decreasing by 14 percent from that in the previous year," the minister said, adding that one of the causes of decline was tariffs.
"It is expected that by the end of this year or early next year, we will agree and start with trade in goods first," Enggartiasto stated, adding that the partnership is expected to increase the trade volume of two countries, considering the close bilateral relations and long history of friendship between the two countries.
The abolition of import duty to zero percent, is very likely to be realized, he added.
In the near future, Indonesia and Turkey will submit a list of commodities that are free of the import and export duties.
In the field of investment, the two countries inked a cooperation agreement on investment worth US$250 million (Rp6.7 trillion) during the state visit.
Head of the Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Thomas Lembong noted in a written statement on July 7 that the cooperation was contained in two MoUs.
One MoU pertains to cooperation worth $320 million between Indonesias state-owned shipbuilding company PT PAL and Turkish electricity energy and powership firm Karadeniz Holding.
The other MoU covers cooperation between Indonesias state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia and the Turkish Aerospace Industry, with an agreement worth $200 million.
"The agreement covers the production of four powerships, with an electricity generation capacity of 36-80 megawatts (MW)," Lembong revealed.
Lembong said the cooperation to build powerships is in line with the Indonesian governments commitment to meeting the electricity needs of its people in isolated areas and to achieve the countrys target of developing power plants having a cumulative capacity of 35 thousand MW.
"The opportunity to invest in the production of powerships is huge. Hence, we will continue to monitor the commitment made by the two firms," the BKPM chief remarked.
He said the cooperation between PT PAL and Karadeniz Holding is expected to fill the gap for regional electricity supply vessels.
"Neighboring countries, such as the Philippines and Myanmar, are potential customers for the company," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the agreement between PT Dirgantara Indonesia and the Turkish Aerospace Industry covers three main points.
The agreements include cooperation in the fields of marketing & production extension of N219 and UAV-ANKA as well as the joint development and production of N245, particularly to expand reach in the Southeast Asian market, including Indonesia.
In the counterterrorism cooperation, President Erdogan has believed Indonesia is a country that is capable of facing terrorism.
He asserted that terrorism in any form must be resisted. The objective of an organization, such as ISIS, is to destroy peace, he said.
The Turkish President also emphasized the importance of cooperation on the exchange of intelligence information between both states.
To that end, the two countries agreed to build an information technology system of intelligence that will allow the two countries to cooperate in order to eradicate terrorism.
"The development of IT System in intelligence will make the works easier in order to eradicate terrorism," Jokowi said.
Last but not least, Indonesia expressed gratitude to Turkey for its support for Indonesias nomination as a member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2019-2020.
"Indonesia appreciates Turkeys support for Indonesias candidacy in the UN Security Council nomination for 2019-2020," Jokowi stated.(*)
