Jakarta. A new toll road connecting the capital city of Bengkulu Province, which carries the same name, and Taba Penanjung was inaugurated on Thursday, and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his expectations for it to boost the economic growth of the province.

The total cost of constructing the Bengkulu-Taba Penanjung toll road was Rp 4.8 trillion (approximately $320 million).

"We expect the [Bengkulu-Taba Penanjung] toll road to expedite economic growth and enhance movements of people and goods. We also hope it can spur people's prosperity as Bengkulu's competitiveness improves," said President Jokowi during the inauguration ceremony.

The toll road is part of the larger 96-kilometer-wide Lubuk Linggau-Curup-Bengkulu tollway, as mentioned on the developer Hutama Karya Infrastruktur (HKI)'s official website. Construction of the Taba Penanjung-Bengkulu toll road, with a main road spanning 17.6 kilometers, began in September 2019.

In the first quarter of 2023, Bengkulu's economy grew by 4.07 percent year-on-year, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of Bengkulu at current prices amounted to Rp 23.02 trillion, with GRDP at constant prices reaching Rp 12.44 trillion in the same period.

The agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors accounted for 28.62 percent of Bengkulu's economy during the same period, according to BPS.