REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The Kalimantan railway is one of the main topics of discussion between Russian and Indonesian business forum held in Jakarta on Tuesday. "This business forum is one of the steps of practical agreement reached on October 27," the Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Alexander Ivanov, said.

In the previous business forum on October 27, Russia and Indonesia have agreed to forge closer relations in the economic sector by boosting trade and expanding ties in other potential sectors, including agriculture and infrastructure. One of the relations is building a railway in Kalimantan that connects Central and East Kalimantan provinces.

"The constructing will be finalized in 2017. The line will be from main site to Balikpapan or the seaport," the Director of Kalimantan Rail, Andrey Shigaev, said.

Right now his team is working on the land issue. They still have to adjust the actual track of the railway. "The main focus is to finalize the landmark," he added. For building the railway, the budget needed is up to 2 billion USD for the port, power station, and the rolling stock.