Tie Of Cooperation, Pelindo And INA Will Bring Belawan Port To Beat Singapore And Port Klang

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara/Pelindo)

JAKARTA - PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) or Pelindo and the Indonesian Investment Authority (INA) Consortium officially signed a cooperation agreement for the management of Belawan New Container Terminal (BNCT). This collaboration aims to transform Belawan through increasing terminal capacity, direct calls, terminal and small port connectivity, as well as developing industrial estates around the port.

The signing was carried out by the President Director of Pelindo, Arif Suhartono, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of INA, Ridha Wirakusumah, on Wednesday, August 24.

The Chairperson of the INA Supervisory Board, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati welcomed Pelindo's collaboration with the INA Consortium at Belawan Port. According to him, this collaboration is the initial milestone of INA's role and contribution in this field.

"As an archipelagic country, improving inter-island connectivity, as a form of structural transformation, through the construction of efficient and modern ports is very important," he said in an official statement, Thursday, August 25.

Sri Mulyani said that INA was established as an alternative long-term equity-based financing for Indonesia's development, especially in an effort to carry out various structural transformations to achieve the vision of an advanced Indonesia.

Therefore, Sri Mulyani hopes that this cooperation can be carried out to the end. It even continues and has a broad snowball effect on other strategic initiatives.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of SOE II, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, appreciated the Master Agreement for investment cooperation and the operation of the Belawan New Container Terminal. He considered this collaboration an important milestone, not only for INA but also Pelindo and DP World as investment partners from the United Arab Emirates.

According to Kartika, this collaboration is an effort by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to build a global connection and global relationship, which in this context is the United Arab Emirates.

"We are friends with the Emirates, which is expected to be our investment partner, our economic partner in various sectors and continue to support the transportation industry, infrastructure, as well as our investment going forward," Kartika said.

Kartika hopes that the transactions in the agreement can be completed before the end of the year. According to him, the most important thing in this transaction, of course, is that all existing agreements are properly spelled out with good governance and ensure that in the future, this cooperation will truly benefit both parties.

"And achieve the goal of making Belawan a transportation hub and a maritime hub in the Southeast Asia Region," he said.

Belawan Just a Feeder

The role of Belawan Port so far has only been as a feeder for goods traffic to other major ports in the vicinity, such as the Port of Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, and Port Klang.

Through management cooperation between Pelindo and the INA Consortium, BNCT's capacity, which is currently recorded at 600 thousand TEUs, will increase by two and a half times to 1.4 million TEUs in the next six years. The increase will also strengthen the position of Belawan Port as one of the main gateways for logistics traffic in the Malacca Strait.

Pelindo President Director, Arif Suhartono said that one of Pelindo's post-merger targets is to support the development of more coordinated port infrastructure, so as to strengthen maritime connectivity and industrial downstreaming.

Arif said, Pelindo's collaboration with the INA Consortium will accelerate the development of the Belawan Port with international service standards, which will enable it to increase its role from a feeder port to a logistics gateway in northern Sumatra.

"Thus, this port is expected to strengthen the competitiveness of Sumatra's superior products and contribute to the gradual reduction of logistics costs," said Arif.

To further realize the role of Belawan Port as one of the logistics gateways in the Malacca Strait, BNCT will become a connection center for terminals and other small ports on the northern part of Sumatra Island. BNCT will also modernize maritime infrastructure, including efficient management of industrial estates and truck traffic to/from ports.

The management of BNCT is one of the implementations of the US$7.5 billion strategic alliance agreement between INA and DP World to improve the quality of maritime and logistics services in Indonesia. The collaboration between INA and DP World aims to improve the quality of port operations, reduce logistics costs, and increase Indonesia's competitiveness.

Ports Are Key to Economic Growth

The chairman of the INA Board of Directors, Ridha Wirakusumah, admitted that he was quite optimistic. According to him, the maritime and port sectors are the key to the economic growth of a region. Making Belawan Port a maritime gateway will have a very positive chain effect for the economic development of the island of Sumatra.

"The more connectivity that is built there, the more support we will get, so that for our superior products we can compete at a global level. Cooperation with Pelindo and DP World will also enable us to solve various obstacles, such as high logistics costs and inefficiency," he explained.

"We welcome the presence of DP World as an international strategic partner that we have chosen through a rigorous selection, to be able to help accelerate the creation of a qualified marine logistics network and provide added value for investors, the business world, as well as the quality of the company's human resources," he continued.

CEO & Managing Director of DP World Asia Pacific, Glen Hilton said DP World as a world-class port operator will introduce its best practices to Indonesia.

"We are proud to be able to help Indonesia develop Belawan Port and support its ambition to develop the Sumatran economy through infrastructure development. Through investment in the latest and sustainable technology, world-class training," he said.

"And the highest standards for occupational safety and health. We want to eliminate inefficiencies, and then accelerate trade between Indonesia and the international community," he continued.