Indonesia began construction of its first high-speed railway on Jan 21

The 142-kilometre-long railway will run between the capital Jakarta and Bandung, West Java. The US$5 billion project is privately-funded by a consortium of six Indonesian state-owned companies and jointly-built with China Railway.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended the groundbreaking ceremony at Cikalong Wetan, West Bandung regency.

"All praise to Allah, today we are able to begin construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train. This is a huge collaboration between the government of Indonesia and China," said President Widodo.

The Indonesian president added: "A country that is most efficient and quick in its development will emerge victorious in the competition between countries."

The high-speed train system - running at 350 kilometers per hour - is expected to be completed by 2018 and will be operational early 2019. It will be integrated at both ends with the Mass Rapid Transit in Jakarta and the Light Rail Transit system in Bandung