Government Urged To Stimulate Investments In Maritime Transport

Jakarta, Jan 6 (Antara) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has called on the government to stimulate more investors in maritime transport. "In an effort to speed up regional economic activity, the government needs to be more innovative with maritime-based investment and business policy, particularly in marine transport as the bridge of national connectivity," Kadin deputy chairman for regional empowerment Natsir Mansyur stated here on Monday. He added that the innovative policy was very useful for regional economic growth in order to suppress the burden of national economy. Natsir noted that the connectivity was still relying on the transport of goods because of high cost and inadequate infrastructure facility. "Therefore we to be well oriented in maritime-based investment and business by increasing the number of ships needed," he said. According to him, the manufacturer of ships and domestic banking haven`t been able to meet the national ship demand, particularly the ships of 3 thousand to 5 thousand DWT for the transport of food commodities, oil and gas, and mining and industrial products. "We hope that the Ministry of Transportation will be more flexible in applying the shipping law for investments in maritime transport," he pointed out.