The government is even providing stimulus, such as a cost discount of 50 percent for departing freight, so the returning freight ship service price can be made even more economical, Sumadi highlighted here on Thursday.
"This stimulus not only balances the logistics financing system but also bolsters local economic growth," he said.
During a business webinar on 'The Ease of Logistics Distribution through Sea Toll in Supporting MSMEs,' the minister highlighted the high fee small business owners have to pay for logistics.
The sea toll program offers many conveniences such as the SiTolaut, an app developed by the ministry that helps users order and track shipments and monitor price disparities between regions in Indonesia, he said. The app is integrated with the BRI Store application, he added.
Meanwhile, acting director general of sea transportation, Arif Toha, explained that the business webinar aimed to share information and bring together logistics business players with MSMEs in order to make the Proud of the Indonesian Products Movement (Gernas BBI) a success.
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The sea toll program, which was launched in 2015, currently serves 34 routes, he said. With the increase in routes, more efforts are needed to optimize the volume of cargo, he added.
With the Gernas BBI launched by President Joko Widodo in May 2020 entering its third year, at least 17.2 million MSMEs have entered the "onboarding" stage or have digitalized their business, he noted. In 2023, 30 million MSMEs, contributing 60-percent to the GDP, are aimed to be onboarded, he said.
With more MSMEs utilizing sea tolls for distributing their products, the number of containers is expected to increase and sea toll services are hoped to improve, he added.
Related news: Transportation, Trade Ministers sign declaration on sea toll program
Translator: Adimas P, Kenzu T
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
