Russia to invest $2.5b for railway construction in Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 08/01/2011

Russia is planning to invest US$2.5 billion for the construction of a railway connecting the Indonesian provinces of Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan, an official said on Monday.

“The length will be 185 kilometers. It will be used to transport coal,” Rizal Affandi, the deputy for international cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, said after a meeting between Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Alexander A. Ivanov.

Rizal said the Indonesian government aimed to complete the project within three to five years.

He added that the project was part of the government’s Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI).

Russia agreed to invest after the visit of a number of ministry officials to Russia a while ago, Rizal said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.