The Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir, believes that the inauguration of the National Strategic Project for the Kijing Terminal Port, Mempawah, West Kalimantan has strategic value for equitable distribution and acceleration of economic growth in the region and nationally. The Terminal Port will also strengthen the national port industry ecosystem, as well as the competitiveness of Indonesian ports as a strategic trade route in Southeast Asia and internationally. Erick Thohir stated this when he witnessed the inauguration of the Kijing Terminal port by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) today, Tuesday (9/8/2022). The event was also attended by the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of PUPR, Basuki Hadimoeljono, several members of the Indonesian House of Representatives, and the Deputy Governor of West Kalimantan, Ria Norsan. "As stated by the President, there is a strategic value for equitable distribution and acceleration of economic growth at the regional and national levels through port development," said Erick. According to him, the terminal port will support down-streaming to maximize exports in new ways and also accelerate the economy. "The Kijing Terminal Port, whose capacity will increase, will make our competitiveness even stronger, and strengthen the ecosystem chain of our port industry so that it is more connected and supports industrial down-streaming," said Erick Thohir. He added that the role of the Ministry of SOEs in the construction of the Kijing Terminal Port, one of which was through independent funding from the SOE budget as a result of collaboration between Pelindo and WIKA. The goal is to accelerate Pelindo's capacity to become an international port operator. It is hoped that Pelindo will be able to connect tens of thousands of islands in the archipelago, bring the flow of economic growth, and increase Indonesia's competitiveness. Currently, Indonesia is still considered a country with the highest logistics costs. "Therefore, I hope that the existence of the Kijing Terminal port must be utilized optimally so that it can encourage Indonesia's economic growth, especially West Kalimantan which has the potential for crude palm oil, bauxite, and other natural resources through efficient distribution channels from industrial areas to loading and unloading locations. This is aimed at reducing logistics costs to be more economical," Erick added. Kijing Terminal Port is the largest port on the island of Kalimantan with a capacity of up to 1.95 million TEUs containers and 28 million tons of goods. Although currently only used for 500 thousand TEUs of containers and 8 million tons, this capacity has strategic value for equitable distribution and acceleration of economic growth at the regional and national levels. The contribution provided by the port also strengthens Pelindo's position as the 8th largest container terminal operator in the world with a total container flow or throughput of 16.7 million TEUs.
Wednesday, 10 August 2022 08:55
Erick Thohir: Kijing Port Terminal Strengthens Kalimantan's Economic Growth
