During November and December 2019, the ARISE+ Indonesia project engaged the services of a senior expert to support the formulation of an updated policy framework on domestic logistics and connectivity for the Ministry of Trade. Improving the logistics and connectivity framework is high on the agenda of the Ministry.
Ministry of Trade’s Director General of Domestic Trade Suhanto and ARISE+ Expert Henry Sandee present at the workshop.
The Directorate General for Domestic Trade is especially concerned about the price instability in Eastern Indonesia which is a bottleneck to enhanced trade flows between Western and Eastern Indonesia. The absence of accurate data sets on interisland trade flows complicates the formulation of domestic trade policies and makes it difficult to design logistics and connectivity policies and regulations.
During a workshop held on 16 December 2019, many useful inputs were obtained on strengthening domestic logistics, especially on intra and inter-island logistics. Lessons learned included the need to upgrade sea and air cargo services between Western and Eastern Indonesia, the need for better synchronization between national and regional policies, and the need to increase support for traditional markets where female market traders play a dominant role.
Private and public sector participants at the ARISE+ Indonesia workshop.
Some of the key conclusions of the workshop and the follow-up policy discussions were that there is a need for a general policy framework which ARISE+ Indonesia is providing support in drafting. There is a high need for the framework to be embedded more firmly in empirical analysis. Finally, there is a need for more capacity building on logistics and connectivity, and more frequent roundtables between the public and private sector.
You may access the webinar presentation materials through this link.
