T

he government is aiming to net the investment needed for the country'€™s air traffic control systems and management and airport infrastructure ahead of the ASEAN Open Skies policy next year, through an upcoming exhibition.

Indonesia will be hosting the Airports and Aviation Technology and Services Exhibition on Nov. 5-7 as part of its Indonesian Infrastructure Week.

'€œI am not certain that the country can compete well regionally with our current aviation infrastructure,'€ National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) director for public-private partnership development, Bastary Pandji Indra, said on Tuesday.

The Open Skies concept lies in policy reforms, such as the removal of route capacity regulations and price controls to promote competition and an array of choices in the aviation industry that will benefit passengers within ASEAN member states.

The number of passengers is expected to increase to 358 million annually in 2025, from 105 million in 2010.

The policy will be implemented gradually until full liberalization is reached in 2020.

Bastary said the government lacked the capacity to provide the full Rp 160 trillion (US$13.9 billion) that the country needed over the next five years to develop infrastructure in the aviation industry.

'€œTherefore, it is hoped that the exhibition will attract investors to help the government develop infrastructure in the aviation sector,'€ he said.

He added that the Rp 160 trillion would pay for, among other things, the expansion of 25 commercial airports managed by state-owned airport operators PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II; 274 non-commercial airports managed by the Transportation Ministry; navigation infrastructure such as communication towers in 20 locations; and 18 airports in remote locations nationwide.

The Transportation Ministry'€™s airports director, Bambang Cahyono, said the government was focusing on developing several of its major international airports in preparation for the Open Skies policy, namely Kuala Namu in North Sumatra, Juanda in East Java, Ngurah Rai in Bali, Soekarno-Hatta in Banten and Sultan Hasanuddin in South Sulawesi.

The ministry, he said, was also developing seven cargo airports, including Batam (Riau Islands), Sentani (Papua), Tarakan (North Kalimantan) and Biak (Papua).

'€œWe are also preparing human resources to work in the technical sector,'€ Bambang said.

He said that Bappenas also welcomed private investors for more efficient and profitable airport management.

Airport management is still closed to foreign investment.

Alan Solow, president director of the exhibition'€™s organizer, PT Infrastructure Asia, said a similar event held last year saw several million-dollar deals made on the spot.

'€œWe'€™re confident that we'€™ll be as successful as last year,'€ he said. (dwa)