Jakarta. MRT Jakarta and Japanese firm Sojitz Corporation signed a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars on Tuesday for a project that would help extend the rapid transit system's reach to Jakarta Kota.

The Japan-funded MRT project has connected Lebak Bulus with the Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout. MRT Jakarta is now trying to link the HI Station with that of Kota as part of the Phase 2A construction. The freshly signed deal with Sojitz is part of a contract package known by its code CP205. The cooperation will encompass the track works and railway systems. This also includes its signaling system, according to MRT Jakarta’s president director Tuhiyat.

“If I remember correctly, the contract [with Sojitz] is approximately Rp 4.7 trillion [$289 million],” Tuhiyat told reporters shortly after the MoU signing ceremony.

Tuhiyat said that MRT Jakarta had been struggling to hold a tender, even failing to find a contractor thrice. He claimed that factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, semiconductor shortage, and global geopolitical tension, among other things, became the main obstacles to the tender processes. 

He added: “We then held an international competitive bidding, and finally, we secured a letter of acceptance with Sojitz Corporation as the tender winner in Feb. 20, 2024. The CP205 is a 75-month contract which will last until the end of 2029.”

Phase 2A construction, which spans 5.8 kilometers, will see the addition of 7 new stations, namely in Thamrin, Monas, Harmoni, Sawah Besar, Mangga Besar, Glodok, and finally the last stop Kota. MRT Jakarta seeks to link the HI Roundabout station with Monas by 2027. Passengers are expected to be able to go to Kota using the MRT by end-2029. 

“Overall, the Phase 2A construction has reached approximately 33.36 percent as of March 25, 2024. The Thamrin-Monas linkage is about 74 percent done, while Harmoni-Sawah Besar-Mangga Besar station's progress is at 28 percent. Glodok-Kota is now 50-percent complete,” Tuhiyat said.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been providing official development assistance loans to fund Indonesia’s infrastructure projects, including the MRT. According to the Finance Ministry in February 2023, JICA’s funding portfolio in Indonesia has totaled at least 551 billion yen (around $3.5 billion). About 227 billion yen of the said money went to the Transport Ministry for the MRT project. 

MRT Jakarta recorded almost 33.5 million passengers throughout last year.