People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, while receiving the Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, Lu Kang, here, invited investors from China to assist in the development of the Mengwi-Gilimanuk toll road.
“The existence of the Mengwi-Gilimanuk toll road is very strategic and promising for investors because it can accommodate vehicles from west to east, and vice versa, in Bali,” he said in a statement issued on Monday.
The toll road can serve as an alternative route from Gilimanuk Harbor to the capital of Bali, Denpasar, he added.
The toll road will also shorten the traveling time from Gilimanuk to Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan from six hours to just two hours.
Soesatyo said he expects the Chinese Ambassador to encourage Chinese investors to invest in Bali’s Mengwi-Gilimanuk toll road, which stretches 96.21 kilometers.
The toll road consists of three sections: section I from Gilimanuk to Perkutatan spans 54.7 km, section II connecting Perkutatan and Soka is 23.17 km in length, and section II linking Soka with Mengwi stretches 18.9 km.
The toll road encompasses three districts of Bali: Jembrana, Tabanan, and Badung.
Soesatyo also lauded the increase in Indonesia and China’s bilateral trade in 2021. Trade between the countries swelled to US$110 billion in 2021, a 54.04-percent increase compared to 2020.
This figure is the largest in the history of Indonesia-China trade.
“I expect that the achievement can be improved,” Soesatyo remarked.
He further said he expects that the trade value will be more balanced in the future. Indonesia’s trade deficit was US$2.44 billion, though the figure was better than the deficit in 2020, which stood at US$7.85 billion.
Indonesia’s trade balance deficit with China is affected by non-tariff trade hurdles for Indonesia’s prime commodities in agriculture, farming, and fishery sectors.
Source: Antara News