Indonesia’s first high-speed railway, being built by China, will be a significant boost to thecountry’s economy and act as a catalyst for other key infrastructure developments regionally,according to experts following the project.

Titissari Rumbogo, a planning and public policy scholar at the University of Indonesia, toldChina Daily the line will have a strong “multiplier effect” for economic growth in countriesthroughout Southeast Asia.

“It will be especially important in job creation, both in terms of construction and for localfactories that are expected to produce train components,” said Rumbogo.

… “China’s success in this high-speed rail project will open up opportunities for it in otherprojects in Indonesia and other countries,” said Emirza Adi Syailendra, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.