INDONESIA and India can reap the benefits from the shifting of the trade pattern if they have the infrastructure to cope with growth, says World Shipping Council (WSC) chairman Ronald Widdows.
Indonesia, and India, said Mr Widdows, whose organisation represents 90 per of the world's container shipping, have enormous potential and ambition, but they still lacks infrastructure, reports the Jakarta Globe.
Speaking to the International Transport Forum 2015 Summit in Leipzig, Mr Widdows said: "If you build capability within Indonesia that has more direct services, you won't need to rely on Singapore."
Mr Widdows is the former CEO of Singapore's APL, the container shipping arm of Neptune Orient Lines.
The ITF, a unit of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation of Development (OECD), said the main maritime trade routes now all originated from Asia and intra-Asia trade with the booming of the economy of the region.
It was reported that Asian ports currently manage more than 50 per cent of the world's port activity.
"Expansion in Asia continues to determine global trade patterns, with intra-Asia container cargo flows now being more substantial than Asia-Europe and Asia-US flows together," the ITF statement said.
Indonesia has announced plans to build 24 new seaports, to encourage direct calls and reduce transshipment through other ports.
Mr Widdows lauded the plan, saying that Indonesia would have huge capability to improve access to the market.
"It will take some time and big investments, but the government is doing it in a professional way, it will draw investments from private sectors internationally. It's a very positive development," Mr Widdows said.
He added that container shipping moved roughly US$4.5 trillion dollar worth of goods every year, or 60 per cent of the world's GDP, and any shift would have a significant impact on the global economy.
This trend started in China, he said, as 30 years ago there were not many terminals there. Today, the country has the largest terminal network in the world. China has also become the largest trading partner for countries in Asia, which for years relied on the United States as their biggest trade partners.
"Those changes have caused changes in the individual lanes, it caused changes in ship sizes and port developments. There are still many countries in Asia that are still capped and restricted in terms of their ability to play in the game because they don't have infrastructure," he said.
WORLD SHIPPING
02 June 2015 - 01:00
Indonesia stands to benefit from enlarging intra-Asia footprint
INDONESIA and India can reap the benefits from the shifting of the trade pattern if they have the infrastructure to cope with growth, says World Shipping Council (WSC) chairman Ronald Widdows.
WORLD SHIPPING
02 June 2015 - 01:00
Indonesia stands to benefit from enlarging intra-Asia footprint
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