The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed a buyer’s credit (export loan) agreement totalling $18.81 million (JBIC portion) with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) to aid its subsidiary, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), in a project that involves the installation of an international submarine cable system. There was also a co-financed loan of $12.54 million extended by Mizuho Corporate Bank Limited, bringing the total loan amount to $31.35 million. Telin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telkom, is a member of the consortium of 10 major telecommunications carriers from various countries, which is involved in the development of an international submarine cable system. The submarine optical fibre cable (OFC) and related communications machinery and equipment to be used in the project will be manufactured by the NEC Corporation and other Japanese companies. The submarine cable project will require approximately $400 million for the installation of about 8,900 km of the submarine OFC system that will connect Japan and Singapore with branch connections to China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Brunei. The system will be connected to the existing transpacific cable system (about 9,600 km) between Japan and the US at Chikura-cho, Minamiboso City, and Chiba Prefecture, as well as to the existing submarine cable system between Indonesia and Singapore. As a result, this project will complete the large submarine cable system from Indonesia to the US via other Southeast Asian countries.
