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orld Bank (WB) president Jim Yong Kim promised Thursday to provide financing options for the maritime highway program, one of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s economic development priorities.

'€œPresident Jokowi has a vision for building a maritime economy that will tackle all the logistical barriers in a way that can actually increase GDP [gross domestic product] growth by 2 percent a year. That'€™s a very powerful and inspiring vision,'€ Kim said during his visit to the country'€™s main port, Tanjung Priok, in North Jakarta.

'€œAnd we at the World Bank group are going do everything we can to support Pak Lino and others in making President Jokowi'€™s vision a reality,'€ he added. Kim was accompanied by state-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Pelindo II) president director RJ Lino during his trip.

Kim, who is in Indonesia for four days, paid a visit to the Sunda Kelapa Port and went on a cruise tour to Tanjung Priok Port as well as the Kalibaru Port, which is under construction.

During a meeting with President Jokowi at the State Palace on Wednesday, Kim offered Jokowi an opportunity to tap as much as US$12 billion over the next three to four years for various development projects, from infrastructure to education.

'€œWe are going to use the full sway of the institution, all of the creative ways in providing financing, because we believe we need to put money into these particular projects, I can'€™t give you a number right now, but I can tell you it will be a very significant investment that we'€™re going to be making in these projects,'€ Kim said when asked about WB support for the government'€™s maritime highway program.

The National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) previously estimated that the government would need to invest around Rp 699 trillion between 2015 and 2019 to support the maritime-axis doctrine.

The investments include Rp 243.6 trillion to develop 24 commercial seaports across the archipelago,
Rp 198 trillion to build 1,481 non-commercial seaports and Rp 101.7 trillion to procure vessels.

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II president director RJ Lino said the firm, which is also known as Indonesia Port Corporation (IPC), expected assistance from the lender particularly in port construction.

'€œDuring the tour, the World Bank has shown its interest in the country'€™s port-development projects, particularly in underdeveloped regions and the country'€™s eastern parts,'€ Lino said.

Out of the total $12 billion of funds the WB has offered the government, Lino said he expected to see around $2-3 billion invested for port-development projects.

'€œIn the end, it will depend on the government, because without reforms in productivity and dwelling-time, good infrastructure development will remain meaningless,'€ Lino said.

According to Coordinating Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo, Tanjung Priok'€™s average dwelling-time early this month was 5.6 days, a decline from 8 days in January.

Last year, the government launched the Inaportnet system, which allow traders to request clearances and permits to move cargo online.

The system is expected to lower the duration of entry and exit for shipping vessels by up to 15 percent and reduce the dwelling time to 4.7 days as targeted by the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister.