Damco, the logistics unit of Maersk, is keen to invest in a cold storage facility in Indonesia if the government pushes through with plans to open the transportation sector to foreign capitalists, local reports said.
Maersk Line Indonesia president director Jakob Friis Sorensen has been quoted by media as saying that Damco wants to go into cold storage operations in the country following Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s pronouncements to turn the archipelago into a world maritime hub.
However, investors say the government needs to firm up its reform program for the logistics sector to entice them to come in.
The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board said recently the government is mulling permitting foreign firms to have greater stakes in logistics operations, including cold storage facilities, in Indonesia as the administration continues its economic and investment reforms.
The government is now revising its so-called “negative investment list” that puts a cap on foreigners’ share in various industry sectors of Southeast Asia’s largest economy, said the reports. The revisions have so far been passed on a ministerial level, and the initial revisions are expected to be announced soon.
Maersk is also reportedly eyeing further port development projects in the country, having launched a direct international route to the eastern port of Bitung, North Sulawesi, from Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, in 2014.
This was followed in October last year with an agreement between Maersk and the government to improve cargo movements in the Bitung port, which is seen to be among Indonesia’s key ports, having support from a special economic zone.
Photo: Magellan
