RI's shipping industry too protective: Greek shipowners<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Greek Shipowners Association (GSA) has urged the Indonesian
\ngovernment to review its policies for the shipping industry, and
\nreduce the high costs of doing business here in order to
\nencourage foreign investors to put their money into the sector.<\/p>\n
\"Many Greek shipping tycoons backed up by major international financial
\ninstitutions are interested in investing in Indonesia but they
\nfind the shipping industry here unattractive to foreign
\ninvestment,\" Georgios E. Katsimpiris, an executive of the Greek
\nShipowners Association, said following a closed-door meeting with
\na number of executives of the Indonesian National Shipowners
\nAssociation (INSA) here on Monday.<\/p>\n
Katsimpiris criticized Presidential Instruction No. 5\/2005 on
\nthe revitalization of the domestic shipping industry, which he
\nsaid was excessively protective for local shipping firms.<\/p>\n
\"To make the domestic shipping industry more competitive,
\nIndonesia needs to open its domestic shipping market to foreign
\nshipping firms,\" he said.<\/p>\n
This presidential instruction, which applies the cabotage
\nprincipal, stipulates that domestic cargoes must be shipped by
\ndomestic vessels, and that foreign investors are allowed to own a
\nmaximum of 49 percent of the shares in a local partner.<\/p>\n
Katsimpiris said foreign investors should be allowed to own
\nmore than 50 percent of the shares to ensure the security of and
\ncontrol over their investments.<\/p>\n
\"We come here not to donate but to make money and benefit
\nIndonesia because we pay taxes and employ Indonesian seafarers.
\nWe have many vessels but no seamen,\" he said, adding that similar
\ninvestment policies has been adopted by developed countries such
\nas Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan and South
\nKorea.<\/p>\n
Besides reviewing its protectionist policies, he said that the
\ngovernment should also simplify investment procedures, eliminate
\ncorruption in the country's ports and enhance security in its
\nwaters.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia has more than 1,000 shipping firms but most use
\nflags of convenience from Liberia, Greece, Panama and Malta in
\norder to avoid the high-cost economy caused by a corrupt
\nbureaucracy and complicated administrative procedures in almost
\nall seaports,\" he said<\/p>\n
He added that the busy Malacca Strait was quite prone to
\npiracy.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, International Transport Federation (ITF)
\nrepresentative Hanafie Rustandi said the presence of foreign
\nshipping firms in Indonesia would certainly help the country's
\neconomic growth, especially in the export sector, and create
\nemployment opportunities for Indonesian workers.<\/p>\n
\"This would open Indonesia's eyes amid the tight international
\ncompetition and encourage domestic shipping companies to improve
\ntheir professionalism. The entrance of foreign competitors in all
\nsectors is unavoidable in the global market.<\/p>\n
\"And this would, in turn, force Indonesian seafarers to
\nimprove their skills so as to allow them to compete with skilled
\nseafarers from the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and
\nAfrica.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ris-shipping-industry-too-protective-greek-shipowners-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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