(Reuters photo)JAKARTA - A consortium of Indonesian and Chinese companies building Indonesia's first high-speed railway has signed a $4.5-billion loan with China Development Bank, Indonesia's government said on Monday. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the welcome ceremony for the Belt and Road Forum, at the International Conference Center in Yanqi Lake, north of Beijing, on Monday. Indonesia picked China over Japan to build the country's first fast-train rail link connecting its capital Jakarta to the textile hub of Bandung in 2015. In the same year, several Indonesian state-owned companies, including Wijaya Karya and Jasa Marga, formed PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a consortium with China Railway International Co Ltd, to build the project. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, is trying to lure investors for a $450-billion infrastructure drive to revive economic growth.

Source: Bangkok Post May 15, 2017 07:39 UTC