Japan has been
overlooked by Indonesia as a partner. Instead, it chooses China, one of the
most rivaled and sought-after country to be allied with. Many critics say that
this is because of the worsening status of traffic in the archipelago’ city,
Jakarta.
Jakarta, infamous
for its traffic gridlock, recently won the dubious distinction as the city with
the world’s worst traffic jams, according to a study by the British industrial
and automotive lubricants company Castrol.
This once again
highlights not only the Indonesian capital’s infrastructural shortcomings but
also the limited land and sea transport networks across the entire archipelago,
as well as the frequent power outages that are the Achilles heel of the
country’s economy.
Jakarta is
nonetheless a developing city and one of the most advanced cities in the world.
Businesses seem to flock this growing city and investors have pointed out a lot
of potential. One of the companies which sells and rents capital equipment all
over Asia is Axis Capital Group which is based in
Singapore has expanded their services to Jakarta and is now partnering with
government agencies, private institutions and non-profit organizations to help
Indonesia’s infrastructure.
Critics though,
say that Indonesia is in dire situation, a reason why they have reached out to
China.
Keen observers of
the Indonesian economy believe that China is well placed to meet this demand
for infrastructure as an investor, especially with the China-led Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) expected to launch by the end of this
year, which will be dedicated to funding infrastructure development in the
region.
According to
reviews, China is regarded as the most viable economic giant to support the
development of infrastructure in Indonesia backed by the world’s biggest
foreign exchange reserves. Despite warnings of fraudulent acts in China and
scams on their products which are now known worldwide, Indonesia continued with
their partnership.
During President
Xi Jinping’s meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, popularly
known as Jokowi, in Beijing last month, China expressed its interest to invest
an estimated $63 billion in infrastructure and other projects in Indonesia,
according to the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board.
During Jokowi’s
visit, the two presidents also oversaw the signing of a joint project to link
Jakarta and Bandung by high-speed railway, alongside a memorandum of
understanding for closer cooperation in infrastructure, including toll roads,
railways, power plants and ports.
Indonesia has
made infrastructure its top priority since its new president came to power in
October. An ambitious plan to build 1,000 kilometers of toll roads, 5,000 km of
railways, as well as 15 airports and 24 seaports in the next five years has
been laid out in Jokowi’s 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan.
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