Japan has offered Indonesia cooperation in the energy sector including developing coal, geothermal and nuclear power plants.
The offer was made through Masaharu Nakagawa, Japanese senior deputy minister for education, culture, sports, science and technology, at his meeting with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) Chief Marzan Aziz here Monday.
Nakagawa said his coming was related to Japan`s efforts to develop research cooperation with Asian countries.
With regard to the cooperation of developing nuclear power plant, he said it was challenging because lots of Indonesians had yet to accept the presence of nuclear power plants in the country.
In dealing with this matter, Nakagawa said the public awareness campaigns were important to make more people have comprehensive understanding about the benefits of nuclear power plants.
What Japan had so far planned was setting up a training center for the Indonesian nuclear researchers, he said adding that the nuclear power plants would someday be publicly accepted.
In Japan, the nuclear power plants could have been accepted for long time though the country was, like Indonesia, also vulnerable to tsunamis and earthquakes, he said.
Besides the energy sector, Japan and Indonesia would also work in handling environmental, natural disaster, and astronomy matters, he said.
In response to the Japanese offer, BPPT Chief Marzan Aziz said the bilateral cooperation would be more focused on developing the environmentally-friendly energy sources.
The coal power plant technology, for example, had now been more efficient and well developed.
The Japanese offer for developing the geothermal power plant would be focused on the small-scaled power plant in rural areas, he said.
About the nuclear energy, he said Japan wanted the nuclear power plants could widely be accepted by the Indonesian public. In this case, Japan was so experienced though it was vulnerable to natural disasters, he said.
“They (Japanese delegates) hope our people will be able to accept the nuclear power plants so that the bilateral cooperation can be made,” he said.
Masaharu Nakagawa was in Indonesia as part of his Asian tour mission. Before going to Indonesia, he had visited China and South Korea. From Indonesia, he will fly for Malaysia and Singapore.
During his Jakarta visit, he also met with the Indonesian Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata.
