Japan & Indonesia to Partner for Construction of Patimban Seaport
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe informed Indonesian President Joko Widodo that Japan is eager to be involved in the USD $3 billion Patimban deep seaport in Subang (West Java). This seaport is envisaged to become an international seaport with a 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) capacity. President Widodo is in Japan for a two-day visit (26-27 May). On the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, Widodo and Abe discussed several projects: the Patimban seaport, the revitalization of the northern Java railway, and the Batang power plant.
Originally the Indonesian government wanted to reduce logistics costs and ease traffic at the Tanjung Priok port (Indonesia's largest seaport and which handles about two-thirds of the country's international trade) in Jakarta by constructing the Cilamaya seaport in Karawang (West Java). However, because this location is too closely situated near an oil and gas block operated by Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore North West Java (a unit of state-owned energy company Pertamina) the project was cancelled and authorities searched for a better location to develop a new international seaport in the proximity of Jakarta.
Patimban has been selected as the new location, some 70 kilometers away from Indonesia's capital city. This seaport would significantly improve the flow of goods to - and from - the industrial estates in the regions east of Jakarta, for example Karawang and Cikarang that house various estates for the automotive, electronics, machinery and information technology manufacturing sectors. Moreover, with the completion of the 117-kilometer long Cikopo-Palimanan toll road (often called the Cipali toll road) in late-2015 there exists solid infrastructure from Patimban to Jakarta.
Direct Investment Japan into Indonesia:
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Quarter I 2016 |
|
| Japanese Investment (in USD billion) |
0.71 | 1.52 | 2.46 | 4.71 | 2.71 | 2.88 | 1.58 |
Source: BKPM
Indonesia's Largest Seaports:
| Seaport | Capacity (in million TEU) |
| Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) |
6.4 |
| Tanjung Perak (East Java) |
3.2 |
| Belawan (North Sumatra) |
1.2 |
| Tanjung Emas (Central Java) |
0.6 |
Source: Investor Daily