The trade minister has issued a regulation requiring exporters of crude palm oil (CPO) and coal to use national ships. According to the regulation, the requirement will be effective as of May 1.

However, there is no clear decision yet as to whether the regulation will actually be enforced, given the inadequate capacity of the national fleet to shoulder all exports of CPO and coal. Either way, this regulation is a major call for us to rethink what it takes to be competitive in the world market.

According to data from the Transportation Ministry, the current capacity of the national shipping industry is far smaller than that of foreign fleets operating in Indonesia. The national capacity amounted to 67.23 million tons in 2016, while the capacity of foreign fleets is almost 15 times greater at 976.2 million tons.

Meanwhile, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data show that...