State-owned train manufacturer PT INKA of Indonesia for the first time shipped three locomotives and 15 cars to the Philippines via the Tanjung Perak port in East Java on Saturday.

“The export of locomotives produced by Indonesian sons is the first of its kind,” PT INKA President-Director Budi Noviantoro said while seeing off the units ordered by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) at the port.

The shipment followed the signing of a contract between PNR General Manager Junn Magno and PT INKA’s Noviantoro in Manila on May 28, 2018 for the purchase of locomotives and cars worth $26 million (about P1.4 billion).

In December 2019, PT INKA exported two train sets of diesel multiple unit (DMU) worth $9.7 million to the Philippines and four DMU train sets worth $21.4 million in February 2020.

“The export of locomotives to the Philippines is (part of) the implementation of the SOE Go Global (program). It also proves the existence of PT INKA and the continuation of SOEs in the midst of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic,” Noviantoro said.

Taufiek Bawazier, director general of metal, transportation mode and electronic industry at the Indonesian Industry Ministry, urged PT INKA to strengthen its innovation with the help of digitalization to artificial intelligence.

That would help PT INKA compete with foreign rivals, particularly in the Southeast Asian market, he said. CURRENTPH