CIREBON, Indonesia, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, supports the on-going Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) project, NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj said here on Wednesday.
The mega project which will be built and operated by the Indonesian-Chinese consortium was officiated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in January last year.
Accompanying Chinese ambassador Xie Feng to visit Cirebon, a port city in West Java province's north coast, Said said Indonesia and China are good neighbor and friends.
The chairman said at the Islamic boarding school Pesantren Kempek Cirebon that Chinese investment to Indonesia not only brings capital and technology, but also creates numerous job opportunities and adds the people's prosperity.
NU supports all kinds of infrastructure projects by Indonesia and China, including the Jakarta-Bandung HSR construction, he said.
On the bilateral relations, the chairman said Indonesia and China have enjoyed a long history of friendly exchanges.
"We need to keep a good relation with China and carry forward bilateral friendship," the chairman said in front of hundreds of students.
Said, who was born in Cirebon, encourages more Pesantren Kempek graduates to work with Chinese companies.
The 142.3-km HSR project with an investment of 5.1 billion U.S. dollars will connect Jakarta and West Java's capital Bandung in the southeast.
With a maximum speed of 250 km per hour, the travel time between the two cities will be cut from three hours to 40 minutes.
