Luhut reveals Indonesia’s plan to open express export routes to China.
Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, stated that Indonesia plans to open new export routes without passing through Singapore. According to him, Indonesia does not want to continuously serve as a feeder for shipping traffic to Singapore. Luhut wants the export of domestic products to be directly conducted from Indonesia. Therefore, Indonesia is collaborating with the Chinese government to open the Medan-Ningbo export route without transit in Singapore.
This is one of the discussions conducted by Luhut in the fourth High-Level Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism between Indonesia and China (HDCM) with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Labuan Bajo, on Friday, April 19th.
“We don’t want to just be a feeder to Singapore; we must be able to export directly from Indonesia. Let’s find partners. Ningbo is one of our partners that we will engage with,” expressed Luhut when recounting his meeting with Wang Yi on his Instagram account, @luhut.pandjaitan, seen on Monday (4/22/2024).
The plan is for Indonesia’s exports to East Asia to go through this new shipping route. Goods can be sent directly from Kuala Tanjung Port to Ningbo, China.
Luhut emphasizes that Indonesia will reduce its dependency as a feeder to Singapore. This represents Indonesia’s maritime sector independence.
“Later on, Kuala Tanjung can directly export and send containers abroad without needing to act as a feeder for Singapore. This is also a demonstration of Indonesia’s independence,” Luhut mentioned.