The Indonesian government has ambitious plans for major infrastructure projects in the near future in order to give a massive boost to the country’s economy, already the largest in South-East Asia. Its shopping list includes among other things the construction of dozens of ports to serve the country’s almost 14,000 islands. To achieve this the Indonesian government is looking abroad for international expertise from among others Antwerp, the second-largest port in Europe.
During the foreign trade mission headed by Princess Astrid of Belgium, Port Authority chairman Marc Van Peel signed two framework agreements with IPC Corporate University, a subsidiary of the Indonesian Port Corporation (IPC), one of the country’s four national port authorities.
Training
The agreement was signed during a maritime seminar in the presence of among others Princess Astrid, Flemish minister Philippe Muyters, the Belgian secretary of state Pieter De Crem, Indonesian coordinating minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli and Fisheries minister Susi Pudjastuti. The preparations for the meeting began already in 2015 when an IPC delegation visited Antwerp. Indeed, Indonesian maritime professionals have long been coming to Antwerp. APEC, the maritime training centre for the port of Antwerp, has welcomed no fewer than 340 Indonesian trainees for its standard programmes over the past three years. In addition APEC offers tailor-made courses for the Indonesian port authorities. Under the terms of the framework agreement that was signed on Wednesday APEC will now also conduct seminars on the IPC Corporate University campus in Jakarta.
Consultancy
In future the other Port Authority subsidiary, Port of Antwerp International (PAI), will also be more active in Indonesia. Together with IPC Corporate University, PAI will carry out consultancy work for the Indonesian port authorities.
