The Indonesian government is currently developing the concept of an integrated port network (IPN) to support direct shipping without transit (direct call) from ports in Indonesia. This plan is expected to be realized starting in 2020.

If this is realized, he estimates that logistics costs will fall by IDR 765 trillion within five years, or 1.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“This means we can save 35 percent to 45 percent of current logistics costs,” said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan at the People’s Representative Council (DPR) Building, Tuesday (25/6).

Luhut said that so far there have been direct call shipping from Indonesia via Tanjung Priok Port. One of the ships serving direct call shipping is the CMA CGM Tage ship with a capacity of 10 thousand TEUs.

However, most Indonesian ships still transit in Singapore. It was recorded that out of a container capacity of 32 million TEUs, there were 17 million TEUs or 53.12 percent of that capacity.

“So we came to the conclusion that we needed our own hub,” explained Luhut.

According to him, there were already several ports prepared as direct call shipping hubs. Among them are Kuala Tanjung Port, Tanjung Priok Port, and Tanjung Perak Port. This improvement plan has also been agreed upon by the Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN/Bappenas) and port operators such as PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Persero) and PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Persero).

However, according to him, there are still problems with doing this, especially resistance in some areas. However, he emphasized that logistics costs could hamper export competitiveness. Moreover, according to him, most importers complain about the highest logistics costs in Southeast Asia.

“The main problem remains psychological in some areas, but we emphasize that this is of national interest. “It must be implemented next year and what is important is that the regions will not be harmed,” he concluded.