Minister of Transportation Budi Karya: Sea Transportation Is A Big Challenge, Requires Strong Collaboration

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Transportation)

JAKARTA - The challenges faced in developing the sea transportation sector are enormous. Therefore it requires strong cooperation from various parties.

For this reason, the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi invited academics and the private sector to participate in developing the maritime sector.

"The sea transportation sector plays an important role in increasing competitiveness and strengthening Indonesia's position as a maritime country," said the Minister of Transportation as a keynote speaker at the Group Discussion Forum "Challenges and Potential of Indonesian Maritime Business 2023: Exploration of Business Policies and Strategies", which was held by the Faculty of Engineering Ocean Institute of Technology Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) online on Tuesday 31 January.

The Minister of Transportation revealed that, despite the great challenges, the marine sector has a large business economic value.

In the midst of the big challenges facing the sea transportation sector, the Minister of Transportation appreciated the performance achievements in this sector which continued to grow consistently even in the midst of a pandemic compared to other sectors. In the last two years, growth has been above 10 percent.

"I invite academic colleagues to solve problems in the maritime sector together and provide learning to shipping industry players. For example, how can there be no more rat ports, how can shipyard business actors comply more with regulations, and so on," said the Minister of Transportation.

In addition, the role of academics is also important to optimize the function of the hub and spokes.

"How can we divert the hub from Singapore and Malaysia to Priok, Patimban, or Tanjung Perak," he said.

Furthermore, according to the Minister of Transportation, the involvement of the private sector also has an important role in developing the sea transportation sector. He said the Ministry of Transportation continues to encourage the role of the private sector to be more involved in developing the sea transportation sector.

"We will give management at a number of ports to Pelindo and the private sector. In the future, tenders at the Ministry of Transportation will be more open so that the private sector can participate," said the Minister of Transportation.

The involvement of the private sector is one of the efforts to find creative funding (creative financing) to overcome the problem of limited funding through the State Budget.

"So that the existing APBN can be used to build other things such as: small ports in Papua, Aceh, North Sulawesi, and used to build pioneer ships," said the Minister of Transportation.

So far, the government has carried out the construction and development of port infrastructure to support economic growth and the national logistics system, implemented sea highways to reduce price disparities, especially in eastern Indonesia, and implemented creative financing schemes such as PPPs, concessions, and others.

Also present at the event were Chancellor ITS Mochamad Ashari, Dean of the Faculty of Marine Technology ITS Trika Pinata, Director of Shipping and Marine Transportation Ahmad Wahid and Main Director of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia Arif Suhartono as presenters, as well as participants consisting of students and members of the Association of Ship and Industry Companies. Indonesian Offshore Facility (Iperindo).