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Catching up on Indonesia’s port investment
No one can deny that Indonesia has plenty of catching up to do when it comes to bringing in investment to develop its seaports, a crucial lifeline for an economy that increasingly relies on exports and imports.
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Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chief Thomas Lembong speaks during the Indonesia-Oman Business Forum on Wednesday. The Oman delegation is exploring business opportunities in Indonesia. (Courtesy of BKPM/-)
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o one can deny that Indonesia has plenty of catching up to do when it comes to bringing in investment to develop its seaports, a crucial lifeline for an economy that increasingly relies on exports and imports. The more pertinent questions relate to how and why.
New technologies and management principles may allow Indonesia to reap larger and safer harvests. But it needs optimal ports to export agricultural and manufacturing products to earn valuable foreign exchange, provide jobs and close the poverty gap.
Before we can talk about where the investment is going to come from, we have to have a paradigm shift on developing our port facilities.
Do we need the experts to tell us that our ports and related infrastructures are the worst-performing in the region? Do we need to be lectured about the lack of essential training of our workforce that leads the government to hire foreign labor?
