For Foreign Investors, President Jokowi Is Waiting To Invest In The Management Of The Kijing Terminal At Pontianak Port

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Setpres)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) opened the door for foreign investors to take part in managing the Kijing Port of Pontianak Port, in West Kalimantan. This port has just been inaugurated and is the largest on the island of Borneo.

The entry of foreign investors, continued Jokowi, with a note if the national strategy project (PSN) can attract investors.

"If the potential is big (Kijing Port) if there is an investment that wants to enter, it's okay, it will be good", said Jokowi after inaugurating Kijing Port, Mempawah, Tuesday, August 9.

Jokowi said the government has announced that the Pontianak Port Kijang Terminal will be integrated with the industrial sector which will later be built in the Mempawah area. Industrial development needs to be done because Mempawah's natural resources (SDA) are quite abundant.

There is a lot of crude palm oil or Crude Palm Oil (CPO) obtained from the extraction of oil palm fruit flesh that has not been refined. In addition, there are bauxite, alumina, and other plantation products.

However, until now there has been no agreement between the government and other foreign investors regarding investment in the development of the Kijing Port. The presence of foreign investors in West Kalimantan has become a capital inflow to strengthen Indonesia's macro economy.

"Later there will be capital inflows, which will strengthen our economy, West Kalimantan has great potential for crude palm oil, bauxite, alumina, and other plantation products.", he explained.

Previously, the President Director of Pelindo, Arif Suhartono, said that the Kijing Port of Pontianak Port was a replacement for the Dwikora Port. The port development is in line with Pelindo's merger target, which is to create maritime connectivity.

The Kijing Terminal is a National Strategic Project built based on Presidential Decree no. 43/2017 concerning Acceleration of Development and Operation of Kijing Terminal at Pontianak Port in West Kalimantan.

The construction of the Kijing Terminal is divided into three stages, Phase 1 Initial, Phase 1 Advanced, and Phase 2. The construction of this Initial Phase includes a pier with dimensions of 1,000 meters by 100 meters wide, a Port Management Area of 200 X 100 m, a road to the pier (trestle) along 3 .45 km with a width of 19.8 meters, a container terminal, and a multipurpose terminal.

This terminal has four areas, namely containers with an initial stage capacity of 500 thousand TEUs and a final stage capacity of 1.95 million TEUs per year, a dry bulk area with an initial stage capacity of 7 million tons, and a final stage capacity of 15 million tons.

Then the liquid bulk area with an initial stage capacity of 5 million tons and a final stage capacity (12.18 million tons), and a multipurpose area with an initial stage capacity of 500 thousand tons and a final stage capacity of 1 million tons. The area of this port area reaches 200 hectares which includes the terminal area and the backup port area.

"In the future, this terminal will gradually replace the role of the existing port in Pontianak. The Pontianak port will later be maximized to serve other activities such as passenger ships or Ro-Ro ships and other services to support inter-island passenger activities using sea transportation", said Arif.

According to Arif, West Kalimantan really needs a new port. Last year, the utilization of Dwikora Port had reached 257 thousand TEUs, or 86 percent of the port's capacity. Land for expansion is also no longer available.