INDONESIA is leaning toward China over Japan in an aggressive bidding battle to build the Southeast Asian nation’s first high-speed railway, two government sources involved in making the decision said.

    The two Asian giants have both sent envoys to lobby Indonesian officials over the past two weeks, each sweetening the terms of their bid for the contract worth about US$5 billion.

    Analysts believe that whoever wins will likely become the front runner for other high-speed rail projects coming up in Asia over the coming years, including one linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

    A Cabinet-level committee led by chief economic minister Darmin Nasution met yesterday to make its recommendation on which country should build the rail line between the capital, Jakarta, and textile hub of Bandung.

    President Joko Widodo is expected to announce the winner within days.

    “Indonesia is leaning towards China because their proposal is less financially burdensome on the Indonesian Government and because the issue of safety has been adequately addressed,” a government source said.

    A second government source said Indonesia wanted to strike a balance between the two powers in handing out high-profile infrastructure projects. Japan holds contracts to build Jakarta’s mass rapid transit system and the biggest power plant in the region.

    Both sources declined to be identified due to the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue for Jakarta and the economic stakes. Japan is Indonesia’s second-largest investor, while China is its top trading partner.

    “We have two partners and it will be good if we can maintain both of them. We have to be smart when taking this decision,” Luky Eko Wuryanto, Indonesia’s deputy minister of infrastructure and regional development, said Friday after meeting China’s ambassador to Indonesia.

    (SD-Agencies)