Deputy Governor Ingkong Ala Supports Acceleration of Direct Exports of Kaltara's Flagship Commodities

Deputy Governor of North Kalimantan (Kaltara), Ingkong Ala. (Victor Ratu VOI)

TARAKAN - North Kalimantan (Kaltara) Deputy Governor (Wagub), Ingkong Ala, supports the acceleration of direct exports of regional flagship commodities through sea and air routes to strengthen regional economic competitiveness in the international market.

This was conveyed by Ingkong Ala when opening a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) themed "Building North Kalimantan Together with the Increase in Direct Exports of Flagship Commodities through Sea and Air" in Tarakan, Wednesday (13/5/2026).

"Kaltara as a border province must be able to become a production center and a new competitive export gateway," said Governor Ingkong.

"Kaltara should not only be a supplier of raw materials, but must transform into an area that focuses on downstream processing, added value, and direct exports," he continued.

Ingkong revealed that strengthening regional exports requires the support of all stakeholders ranging from the government, vertical agencies, logistics players to the business world.

Ingkong Ala explained that Kaltara has succeeded in directly shipping fishery commodities in the form of fresh catfish and malong fish from Tarakan to Hong Kong. He assessed that this achievement was an important milestone for the development of direct exports from Kaltara.

"This achievement is a new milestone for Kaltara, as well as proving that our regional products have quality and competitiveness in the international market," he explained.

He emphasized that based on data for 2025, Kaltara's non-oil and gas exports decreased by around 45.83 percent compared to the previous year. This is due to the weakening of coal exports. This condition is considered to indicate the high dependence of the region on primary commodities.

"Dependence on primary commodities such as coal and CPO is still a serious challenge for the export economy structure of our region," he said.

For this reason, the local government continues to encourage the development of other flagship sectors such as fisheries, plantations, forestry, and seaweed processing industries.

Ingkong Ala also emphasized the importance of strengthening the logistics infrastructure of sea and air, including accelerating the development of Malundung Port as an international hub and optimizing Juwata Tarakan Airport as a cargo airport to support the export of fresh products.

In addition, the North Kalimantan Provincial Government encourages the increase in international certification, strengthening product standardization, and assisting MSMEs so that they can penetrate export markets.

"We want business actors in North Kalimantan to really feel that the government is present to help, accompany, and open access to the international market as widely as possible," he said.

The Deputy Governor hopes that the forum will be able to produce concrete steps in accelerating direct export routes, strengthening maritime and air connectivity.

"This step will reduce logistics costs, as well as increase the competitiveness of Kaltara's flagship commodities in the global market," he concluded.