Ports reform and economic growth

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