"We should not lose out to competition."Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA News) - The 18th Transportation Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN (South East Asia) member countries has discussed and set the goals of ASEAN Connectivity 2015 program.
"Our first target is to ensure the implementation of certain goals that we had set under the 2012 ASEAN Connectivity program. By the end of 2013, we will re-evaluate the effectiveness of our initial measures," Indonesian Transportation Minister E.E Mangindaan said here on Thursday.
"Initially, there were some issues relating to certain agreements that had been signed by air transport authorities from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand," he stated.
"All of those problems have been resolved. The agreements per se had no problem; it`s just that the airlines faced some technical challenges," Mangindaan explained.
He said Garuda Indonesia, the national airline, had already expressed its readiness to comply with goals set under the ASEAN Connectivity 2015 program, while other domestic private airlines were expected to follow suit.
"All our airlines are likely to cooperate in order to overcome the challenges ahead of the implementation of the open sky policy in the ASEAN region," Mangindaan said.
He stated that Indonesian airlines should "welcome the ASEAN Connectivity 2015 goals" so they could successfully compete with other airlines in the region.
"We should not lose out to competition. Everything should be in place right from the beginning. For example, how much should be the fare, how many aircraft can enter Indonesia, how many planes can we take to another country, etc. All of these things must be implemented efficiently," Mangindaan added.
The meeting was also attended by China, Japan and South Korea, who are ASEAN Plus Three members.
(T.KR-LWA/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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