The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is pushing for the Philippines-Indonesia Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) project as a prelude to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Ro-Ro system.
Zamboanga, General Santos, and Davao, all in southern Philippines, were earlier identified as ports that will be linked to Indonesia under the proposal.
Separate studies done by the Philippines and Indonesia will be consolidated starting January 2012.
A source privy to the negotiations said there have been talks with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) since the project needs a bilateral agreement.
“We told DFA that the Terms of Reference (TOR) is workable,” the source added.
Indonesia is already part of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand growth triangle which the Philippines can also later join, the source said.
Meanwhile, the Asean TOR is expected to be approved this October for submission to the Asean maritime technical working group then to the Senior Transport Officials’ meeting in November.
The Asean heads of state have agreed to adopt a regional ro-ro system to help integrate economies by 2015. The system will promote ro-ro shipping, standardize ro-ro ports, promote container-chassis ro-ro, and come up with a ships and vehicle registration system.
Photo by L2F1
