A special delegation from Japan including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to reaffirm Japan’s commitment to infrastructure projects in Indonesia, amid China’s recent signals of interest to bankroll Jokowi’s ambitions to expand ports, roads, railways and power plants. Hiroto Izumi, a special advisor to Abe, said that Japan would be particularly interested in participating in the development of a high-speed railway and the construction of new power plants, according to Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil who accompanied Jokowi during the meeting. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has completed an initial phase of study for the project and has estimated that around USD 6 billion in investment will be needed to construct the railway. Jokowi may form a team to evaluate the two proposals in order to provide equal opportunity for both countries, according to Presidential Chief of Staff Luhut Panjaitan.
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