Jakarta (ANTARA) - Three locomotives and 15 coaches manufactured by state-run train producer PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) arrived at the Manila Harbour Centre, the Philippines, on Wednesday (Dec 23).
"On December 23, 2020, the Philippines National Railways (PNR) received three diesel locomotives and 15 coaches produced by PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) that was marked by an unveiling ceremony at the Manila Harbour Centre," the Indonesian Embassy in Manila noted in a statement obtained here on Thursday.
Attendees at the unveiling ceremony comprised Indonesia's Deputy Chief of Mission to the Philippines Widya Rahmanto, the Philippines Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, PNR General Manager Junn B. Magno, and Deputy Marketing Director of PT INKA Dadik P. Tirta.
Rahmanto highlighted the Indonesian government’s commitment to support infrastructure development programs in the Philippines.
"Arrival of the trains is a form of cooperation between PNR and PT INKA that had been established in 1996," he noted in the statement.
Philippines Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade lauded Indonesia's commitment while affirming that the INKA-made coaches and locomotives would help PNR improve its public services in the Philippines.
“The export of locomotives produced by Indonesian sons is the first of its kind," PT INKA President Director Budi Noviantoro noted while seeing off the consignment ordered by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) at the port.
The train manufactured in its factory in Madiun, East Java, had been shipped via the Tanjung Perak Port in East Java on December 12, 2020.
In 2019, the company had exported six commuter trains to PNR.
While seeing off the consignment ordered by PNR, President Director of PT INKA Noviantoro stated that it was the first export of Indonesian-made locomotives to the Philippines.
The shipment followed the signing of a contract between PNR and PT INKA in Manila on May 28, 2018, for the purchase of locomotives and coaches worth US$26 million.
In February, PT INKA had delivered four diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains to the Philippines, worth US$21.4 million (Rp301 billion).
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