INDONESIA-JAPAN BILATERAL COOPERATION IN TRANSPORTATION SECTOR: a Tokyo Visit

It was just after I had arrived at Prince Park Tower Hotel- Tokyo, a colleague from the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo approached me and said, “ When you have a time, please do call Mr. Kudo  from the OPRF , he is waiting for you to contact him.” It was quite a surprising message for me, since to be frank, I did not inform Mr. Kudo of my visit to Japan. How could he detected my presence? 

Mr. Kudo, My self and Mr. Tomoya, a brief talk in Tokyo

The reason why I did not inform Mr. Kudo that I am in Tokyo was because  I was afraid that my tight schedule in attending “The 2^nd Vice Ministerial Level Meeting in Transportation Sector Between Indonesia and Japan” held in Tokyo on  28-29 July 2011, did not give me any opportunity to do any spare activities but working.  The success of this annual meeting between the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of  Indonesia and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) Japan on Vice Ministerial Level is one of my duty as Chief of Bilateral Cooperation in the Ministry of Transportation of Indonesia. But then, thanks God, I had a chance to meet with Mr. Eisuke Kudo and Mr. Tomoya Shimizu (MA 2004) after a farewell dinner of the meeting. We were having a nice chats while observing the view of Tokyo Tower and Tokyo at Night, from the 33^rd  level of Prince Park Tower Hotel. This visit was a real meaningful experience for me since it was my first visit to Tokyo again after 8 years since my  Japan field study in 2003 during my study in WMU.

  

The 2^nd Vice Ministerial Level Meeting in Transportation Sector Between Indonesia and Japan is an initiative to strengthened the existing bilateral cooperation in transportation sector between the two countries. Indonesian delegation was led by H.E. Bambang Susantono, Vice Minister for Transportation and Japan delegation was led by Mr. Seiichi OHKUCHI, Vice Minister for International Affairs. During the meeting, ways to enhance cooperation in aviation, port  and railways sectors were seriously discussed.  Japan delegation also presented “Recoveries of Transport Infrastructure from Great East Japan Earthquake”.  As we all know, Japan and Indonesia are countries that lied on the ring of fire, thus earthquake is a natural disaster that we often experienced. So Indonesia side needs to learn from Japan  on how transport infrastructure could be fast recovered to support the movement of people and aids as well as to support the economy recovery in the disaster area.

This annual meeting will take place in Indonesia or in Japan subsequently every year. In this case, I have an opportunity to visit Japan at least once in every two years to attend this meeting. And it makes me happy.

(Note: This Short Article has already published in the Friends of WMU Japan  Newsletter Number 37 on December 2011 )