“千岛之国”的港口如何后来居上？

许俊豪

很难想象一个被誉为“千岛之国”的国家会缺少有竞争力的国际大港，但从近年来各种全球百大集装箱港口榜单上确实难觅印尼港口的踪影。印尼港口数量非常可观，又是东南亚第一大经济体和近年来经济发展较快的国家之一，港口经济发展潜力巨大，而如何释放这股巨大的潜力，是这个国家也在“上下求索”的答案。

“千岛之国”，港口数百

众所周知，印尼是个群岛国家，并且位于国际贸易航线沿线，因此，港口的门户作用对于印尼的对外经济活动至关重要。

印尼有各类港口近700个，其中国际贸易港口超过140个，包括89个处于全面运营状态的国际海港和52个专用码头。最大的港口雅加达港，处理着印尼50%的转运货物，其外贸吞吐量也占印尼进出口货物的50%以上。雅加达港目前有4个码头，其中雅加达1号码头，即雅加达国际集装箱码头（JICT）位于雅加达丹戎不碌（故又称丹戎不碌港），是印尼最大的集装箱港口。

印尼水路运输也较发达，水运系统包括岛际运输、远洋运输、特别船运，全国有水运航道超过2.1万千米。

因此，相对而言，港口和水路运输对印尼而言是较为重要的贸易基础设施，印尼90%以上的对外货物贸易要通过海上运输来实现。

后程发力，能否迎头赶上？

印尼是东盟第一大经济体，并且近15年来经济增速基本都保持在5%以上。此外，印尼对外贸易规模也不小。印尼中央统计局的贸易报告显示，2019年印尼对外贸易总额为3382.47亿美元，其中与中国的贸易额为704.3亿美元，在中国—东盟贸易额（6415亿美元）中占比超过10%。

不过，印尼港口的发展却相对滞后于经济发展水平和贸易规模。其港口的数量虽多，但大部分是小港口，集装箱港口更是稀少。

而印尼港口竞争力的不足与基础设施滞后有很大关系，尤其是21世纪的前10年，印尼港口基础设施落后及其所造成的拥堵一度让印尼的海运成本成为东盟之最，很多需要跨岛运输的印尼货物都不得不绕经马来西亚和新加坡。这样一来，无异于把业务拱手送人，进一步降低了自己相较于马来西亚港口和新加坡港口的竞争力。

因此，近年来，印尼正在加大基础设施建设，包括新建或扩建一批港口，并对港口管理进行改革。例如，印尼第二港口公司是印尼政府在港口领域建立的8家国有企业之一，其任务是在全国范围内对港口进行运营管理。后来，8个公司合并成4个，并逐步面向私营机构和外资开放。目前，印尼第二港口公司不仅在印尼的10个省运营着12个主要港口，还在海外不断扩大港口收购计划，例如越南和孟加拉国的港口。

据印尼第二港口公司董事阿里夫·苏哈托诺（Arif Suhartono）介绍，如同第二港口公司一样，现在印尼的很多港口正处在一个新的发展时期。

“集群化”发展才能释放“多量”的潜能

以史为鉴，印尼很清楚，物流成本是制约港口竞争力提升的关键。所以，目前印尼的港口尤其注重降低物流成本。

据阿里夫介绍，进入2020年以来，该公司已经在印尼的港口大力推行数字化转型，包括货物运输和仓储服务等业务的数字化，并且港口服务票据也以数字形式提供，以便轻松交付等。尽管在疫情影响下，印尼港口吞吐量總体下降，但受益于这一行动，包括雅加达港在内的许多港口的仓库使用量都有所增加。

阿里夫还认为，从更宏观的角度上来探讨增强印尼港口的竞争力，除了完善基础设施，很重要的一点就是集群化。“港口是一个生态系统。印尼有很多大大小小的海港和内河港，仅第二港口公司就运营着12个港口，集群化可以提高所有港口的活动效率，以及在航运网络中更充分地发挥港口的作用。”

而由中国与新加坡共同发起建设的国际陆海贸易新通道（以下简称“陆海新通道”），正努力将不同区域间的海港、陆港连接起来，加强联动，建立互利共赢的陆海新通道”。在阿里夫看来，这正是港口集群化发展的典型案例。

“我们与荷兰鹿特丹港、东盟国家的港口都建立了合作关系，我们对其他国家的合作者也持开放态度。接下来，我也非常期待能够在‘陆海新通道这一国际项目中寻求合作机会，并与北部湾港、新加坡港等共同探讨港口创新合作模式。”阿里夫对印尼媒体说道。

The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating economies around the globe， including Indonesias. Major enterprises may have various options to overcome the hurdles. However， Indonesian micro， small and medium-sized enterprises may not have the same options.

New or existing MSMEs are inches away from going out of business because of various issues. These may be cash-flow issues due to outstanding debt and liabilities， or simply a massive loss of customers.

It is worth noting that MSMEs may seem to be increasing in number despite the outbreak. This may mislead people into believing that MSMEs are thriving amid the pandemic. However， this is the result of massive terminations of employment or salary reductions. In order to gain extra income， employees often turn to creating small businesses. Most of these involve selling food and beverages through online platform and social media， which can be easily done.

Indonesian governments take on MSMEs

Despite the above， the Indonesian government recognizes the threat to MSMEs due to the pandemic. The minister of cooperatives and SMEs has warned that around 50% of MSMEs may go out of business.

The problem here lies with the reduction of physical meetings. Most MSMEs rely on physical interaction to engage with buyers and suppliers. If the pandemic drags on much longer， most MSMEs thus will need to adjust to online markets and may struggle to find new customers just to make ends meet.

It should be noted that MSMEs have a great role in Indonesias economic development and absorption of manpower. It is thus a great concern for the government to help these enterprises stay afloat. To do so， it has issued Government Regulation No. 23 of 2020 on Implementation of a National Economic-Recovery Program.

The governments plan is to provide several economic stimuli. Some of these are allocations of funds through a bond for banks. In return， the banks must support debt restructuring or financing programs for those in need. Another would be investment and providing securities.

These stimuli may seem promising for MSMEs. However， their implementation has been challenging on the bureaucratic level. The stimulus on debt relaxation and restructuring was delayed by a lack of implementing regulation from the relevant government institution.

District governments involvement

Indonesia， with its huge population and territory， should not directly adopt other countries policies. The economic stimuli mentioned above are adopted from neighboring countries， including Singapore and Malaysia. Such policy was indeed effective there because it suits their culture and condition. However， the Indonesian government should take into account the diversity of the citizenry to adopt a policy for MSMEs.

In light of the above， the role of district governments can also be significant and should be taken into consideration. It should be admitted that the district government is the body that better understands the varying problems encountered by the MSMEs in their respective regions. Therefore， district governments should issue their own regulations to prevent MSMEs from going out of business.

Proposed scope of district regulations

District governments may issue regulations in favor of MSMEs. One approach could provide a legal basis to cooperate with local companies that are not so affected by the pandemic. These companies mostly focus on daily needs such as the agriculture or health sector. The purpose of such cooperation is to seek assistance from the private sector to support MSMEs.

The assistance may be in the form of financial aid and/or training and product development. The training may help MSMEs cope with digital marketing activities. Additionally， it is an opportunity for the district government to encourage private companies to fulfill their corporate social responsibility.

Second， regulations may impose obligations to use products made by the local MSMEs. This aims to stimulate the economic development for the MSMEs and promote their products at the same time. This is crucial， since financial aid and training for MSMEs will not suffice unless there is greater demand from the market. In the long run， this may help form a bigger market for MSMEs.

It is worth noting that this type of policy is not unheard of in the business sector. Massive projects involving public-private partnerships oblige project owners and contractors to procure some of their materials locally.

Indonesian communities： helping hand

On the other hand， all of the above still may not suffice to support MSMEs. It requires the involvement of the whole community， in particular youth initiative. In this digital era， younger generations tend to grasp a better understanding of this trend. They may also maximize the use of digital transactions to obtain profit. The youth initiative thus may help create a trend to help MSMEs boost sales of local products.

The first step would be to cooperate with promising young individuals. These individuals may provide greater insight depending on their background， such as in non-governmental organizations or startups.

Additionally， those with greater expertise may provide further assistance in the form of consultancy. Their advice should aim to help address issues such as cash flow， marketing， raw-material prices and even funding. The government then in response may provide a specific solution for these issues affecting MSMEs.

The government may need to conduct further analysis on the above suggested approach. Nonetheless， it should not be disputed that it will require a joint effort from every stakeholder to resolve these challenges. The government as the main stakeholder should pave the way for others to join in and support MSMEs.

· Source： Asia Times