95 Percent of Foreign-flagged Sea Transportation, President asks for Ships to be Built in Indonesia

Head of BPI Danantara Rosan Roeslani/ (Teddy Kurniawan VOI)

President Joko Widodo has asked BPI Danantara to prepare a plan to strengthen the national fleet after 95 percent of cargo-carrying ships are still foreign-flagged. The government wants the proportion of Indonesian-flagged ships to increase and the fleet's needs to be met by domestic shipyards.

Head of BPI Danantara Rosan Roeslani said the issue was discussed in a meeting at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Monday, July 27.

"The President saw that 95 percent of the goods were foreign flags. How to move forward so that they can be Indonesian flags, and asked what the development plan was like," said Rosan.

According to Rosan, Indonesia has shipyards owned by state-owned enterprises and national private companies. The capacity of the industry will be increased so that the construction of ships can be carried out domestically.

However, the ships produced must meet international standards. Rosan emphasized that strengthening production is not enough just by increasing the number of ships.

"We have shipyards, both state-owned and national private, which we want to improve and develop. Shipbuilding can be done in Indonesia, but it must be in accordance with international standards," he said.

Rosan has not revealed the number of ships that will be built, investment needs, nor the time limit for the development of the national fleet. He also has not explained the type of ship that is a priority.

The discussion was related to efforts to increase the role of the national shipyard industry in freight. The President asked Danantara to develop a development plan that could increase the use of Indonesian-flagged ships.

During the same meeting, Rosan also reported on the restructuring of SOEs, consolidation in the financial and logistics sectors, and plans to establish Danantara Housing.

When asked about the airline holding's plans, Rosan confirmed that the issue was not discussed with the President.