Business, News

Hungary to Assist Indonesia with $90 Million Toll Road Technology

ShareHungary to assist Indonesia with $90 million toll road technology. Indonesia and Hungary are in talks to build a multi-lane free flow...

Written by Erwin Prasetyo · 2 min read >
toll road technology

Hungary to assist Indonesia with $90 million toll road technology. Indonesia and Hungary are in talks to build a multi-lane free flow (MLFF) e-toll system that allows payments without gates while cars are moving. The technology is estimated to cost US$90 million.

toll road technology
Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó talks to the press on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, following a bilateral meeting with Indonesian ministers. Hungary to assist Indonesia with $90 million toll road technology (JP/Riza Roidila Mufti)

The e-toll technology the country is offering uses a global navigation satellite sytem (GNSS). The technology has been used in several eastern European countries, including Hungary.

Toll Road Technology

With GNSS, motorists no longer need to tap electronic money cards as vehicles would be charged tolls through sensors installed inside vehicles that identify their locations based on satellite connections. Installation of the GNSS e-toll system is projected to cost $90 million, Hungary’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday.

“An Indonesian-Hungarian joint venture has completed the feasibility study of an e-tolling system on the highways,” said Szijjártó. “We hope that Hungarian companies will be able to take part in the completion of the project as well.”

Szijjártó said after meeting Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa that bidding for the project would start in April. He expected the winning bidder for the latest e-toll technology to be announced by the end of this year.

Talks on installing toll road technology in Indonesia have been ongoing since 2017, when Indonesia embarked on extensive infrastructure development projects that aim to improve the country’s connectivity through toll roads and other ways.

Toll Road Technology

Minister Basuki said a feasibility study on the MLFF technology had been conducted and therefore the next step was for Hungary to prepare several documents prior to bidding.

“Even though Hungary is the initiator of this e-toll technology, they still need to join in the bidding process,” said Basuki. Implementation of the technology may take a long time and be gradually done in big cities first, he added.

toll road technology
Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono (right) with National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa (left) brief the press after a closed bilateral meeting with Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó in Jakarta on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Hungary to assist Indonesia with $90 million toll road technology (JP/Riza Roidila Mufti)

Indonesia and Hungary are also undertaking negotiations and planning to establish the Indonesia-Hungary Investment Fund, to which each of the countries would chip in $500 million. The fund would be used to finance infrastructure development projects, including water management systems and transportation. 

Aside from the fund and the MLFF e-toll system, Indonesia and Hungary are in talks to continue on to phase two of a water management system partnership.

An Indonesian and Hungarian business consortium has completed development of a drinking water supply system in 36 disctricts and capital cities across Indonesia. The project covers the contruction of channels, reservoirs and distribution pumps.

“With this success, the Hungarian government again offers to us to continue cooperation in the field of drinking water systems,” said Basuki. “We will calculate their needs together with the National Development Planning Ministry because clean water is one of the priorities of our work in the next five years.”

National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said Indonesia wants the upcoming clean water project to use 75 percent local content in the construction. It would be higher than the previous water project’s 50 percent local content.

“We have delivered this message to the Hungarian representative that in the next cooperation [arrangement] we want higher local content but with the same financing structure,” Suharso said.  Hungary to assist Indonesia with $90 million toll road technology (Riza Roidila Mufti, The Jakarta Post) Booming Indonesian Business

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *