Ports reform and economic growth

On behalf of the Indonesian National Shipowners' Association, I commend your editorial Aburizal's coordination, in The Jakarta Post on April 11 calling for institutional reform and behavioral changes in the ports sector.

The causes for Indonesia's non-competitiveness in export are varied. The highest port handling charges in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region are merely a symptom of the problem.

You cite "... arduous clearance procedures, a corrupt customs service and unnecessary intervention in port operations by other state agencies". However the primary cause of our inefficient ports sector is the lack of free and fair competition within and between our country's ports and the current monopoly powers and restraints to competition created by the legal and regulatory framework.

We endorse wholeheartedly your call for economic coordination and the government as a whole to state a policy and vision for reform. This must be coupled with the political will to change the laws, so as to promote competition, which will attract private investment. This will drive economic growth and create more evenly shared prosperity for the great majority of our people who live in poverty. Their aspirations are shackled by the bottlenecks created by our nation's ports.

MAMAN PERMANA Secretary Indonesian National Shipowners' Association