Indonesian ports to see $500m expansion

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Jakarta: Indonesian shipping firm PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) I is eyeing a $500m joint commitment on a port development project with private firms and local governments, writes Portworld.
The joint commitment involves state oil company PT Pertamina, shipping firm Maersk Line, Regional Container Line (RCL), Langkat Regency of North Sumatera, Sabang Regency and the North Aceh Regency of Aceh and the Dumai Regency of Riau, according to the Jakarta Post.
The port project will comprise of expanding ports in Aceh, Batam, North Sumatra and Riau with financing both from the companies' internal cash and Indonesia's development partners including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
Pelindo I has so far secured a loan worth $87m from IDB and is expected to secure another from JBIC, according to Bambang Eka Cahyana, director of commercial and business development.
''The $500m in funds will be used to finance projects in the next five years,'' Bambang was reported saying.
He said the project aims to improve services given in ports through work space expansion and procurement of new infrastructure.
''For Belawan and Batam, we plan to expand the ports so that they will be able to handle more containers. It is estimated these projects will spend $83m and $100m respectively,'' he said  [24/08/09]