"To support the maritime area, ports are needed as transit places for sea transportation modes as well as places for loading and unloading logistics," Jokowi remarked during his working visit to Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
As two-thirds of Indonesia's area consists of the sea, maritime is the key to improving the national economy, he affirmed.
Hence, the central government continues to make efforts to improve port facilities in accordance with standards in service, management, technology, and equipment with integrated logistics services and connected to other modes of transportation for faster and more efficient services, the president noted.
"We cannot be inferior to other countries since we have a good maritime territory. It must be utilized optimally," he emphasized.
During the working visit, Jokowi inaugurated two ports in Central Sulawesi whose reconstruction work was completed as part of the recovery efforts after being hit by the 2018 earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction disasters in the region.
"The earthquake in 2018 hit Palu City and its surroundings, including the Pantoloan Port in Palu and Wani Port in Donggala District," he stated.
According to the head of state, the budget for the port reconstruction work amounted to Rp233 billion (US$14 million) to restore the function of ports affected by the disaster and increase the port's service capacity as a node for logistics activities.
"The current global condition is a competition to strengthen each country's economy. The winner will seize the biggest opportunity in the economy. Indonesia must take part in winning this competition by preparing strong supporting infrastructure, strong human resources, and strong economic management," Jokowi stated.
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Translator: Mohamad Ridwan, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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