Ninth Symposium (Part II : Panel Discussion)

Theme:“Promotion of Economic Exchanges among Member Ports”

Participants
Coordinator: Mr. Yoshiro Tanda, Director of Kochi Representative Office in Singapore
Panellists: Mr. Daijiro Hashimoto, Governor of Kochi Prefecture
Mr. Hiroyuki Motoki, Director of Kochi Representative Office in Shanghai
Mr. Dennis Villamor, Deputy General Manager of Cebu Port Authority
Mr. W.K. Ariyadasa, Director of Training, Sri Lanka Ports Authority
Mr. Byeong Soo Choi, President/CEO of Mokpo Newport Co., Ltd
Mr. Chang Dechuan, Chairman & President of Qingdao Port (Group) Co., Ltd
Mr. Feliciano G. Salonga, Chairman of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
Mr. Achmad Baroto, General Manager of Port of Tanjung Perak

【Mr. Tanda】
My name is Tanda, from the Kochi representative office in Singapore. As mentioned earlier by Governor Hashimoto, one of the objectives of the INAP organisation is to promote economic activities among the INAP members. This theme has been very important but at the same time, it is very difficult to achieve. So we would like to discuss this issue frankly today.
In the earlier short speech of the first programme, some members already referred to ideas on how to enlarge economic activities. I would like to change the subject a little bit to discuss which items you would like or hope to export to Kochi or Japan. Please feel free to give us your frank opinion. First, I would like to start with Mr. Choi from Mokpo Newport, Korea who is now our new member.

【Mr. Choi, Mokpo Newport】
Thank you Mr. Tanda for giving me the opportunity to make a first speech. I would like to say something about our main items for import and export in Korea, as well as give reasons why Jeollanam-do is well suited to trade. As I said earlier, Mokpo New Port is located in Jeollanam-do, southwest of Korea, and will become a regional base port of logistics due to its geographically advantageous location with access to major sea routes to the USA, Europe and South-East Asia. There are 9 national industrial complexes and 15 local industrial complexes situated in Jeollanam-do. In 2006, Jeollanam-do exported 25 million tons at $ 108.2 billion whilst importing 90 million tons at $ 31.6 billion. Main export products consist of semi conductors, automobiles, electronic home appliances, vessels, gas oil, petrochemicals, tyres, etc., and import products include crude oil, nano-memory of semi conductors, natural gas, computers, steel sheets, and so on.

【Mr.Tanda】
Do you have any specific items Mokpo wants to export?

【Mr. Choi, Mokpo Newport】
As we have 9 national complexes, we would especially like to export goods such as wire, electronic home appliances and automobiles. I will make a list of the products, which we would like to export to Kochi, Cebu, Subic Bay, Colombo, Qingdao and Tanjung Perak. We will provide the details of imports and exports products list upon your request, if any.

【Mr. Tanda】
Thank you very much. I would like to ask Mr. Baroto from Tanjung Perak to be our next presenter. In the earlier speech, Mr. Baroto presented many ideas on how to bring about economic growth. The Port of Tanjung Perak would like to focus on a plan to export special products; such as they are now doing in shipping high quantities of sugar cane top to Kochi. He also mentioned two essential components to reenergizing the port: the first being to concentrate on technical aspects such as increasing the efficiency of port operation, and the second being to engage in more activities of social relationships such as sister city and sister port agreements. Mr. Baroto, do you have anything to add to these ideas?

【Mr. Baroto, Port of Tanjung Perak】
Thank you Mr. Chairman. First of all, I would like to explain our situation to the audience. Tanjung Perak exports 600TEUs of sugar cane top and fertilizer to Kochi per year, and 50-60TEUs of paper manufacturing machinery. We hope we can improve and increase trade with other INAP members through Tanjung Perak. Secondly, regarding social relationships, we hope to have multilateral relationships with other member ports in the future, not only in economic but also other aspects such as management, information systems, and technology.

【Mr. Tanda】
Now we turn to Mr. Chang from Qingdao Port.

【Mr. Chang, Qingdao Port】
I would like to say that I am very happy to be here at the 2007 INAP conference. I think the theme for this year’s conference - how to promote economic exchange activities between the ports - is a very important issue we can talk about today. In the past few years, Qingdao has enjoyed some very high-speed development. Reasons for this include the fact that the international economy as well as the Chinese economy and the Shandong Province economy have been growing at great speed.
As you all know, in order for international economic growth to occur, we need ports. Without ports, there would be no growth. Therefore we have a responsibility to be professional in our transportation of goods and make sure that we contribute to international growth. As the world economy has grown, so has mutual exchange between countries. Our network among INAP members is but one example. For these reasons, we need to make sure that we improve the management of ports. Ports are not just about moving cargo; they are also very important as transportation hubs. With this in mind, all ports must take the responsibility to look after exchanges the handling of cargo, but also make sure that they work towards regional development and exchange activities, thereby encouraging network exchange.
Recently, exchange between people and goods has flourished between Qingdao and INAP member ports, such as Kochi and Colombo. Exchange with Kochi has been especially prosperous thanks to the efforts of Governor Daijiro Hashimoto. We look forward to more economic growth in cooperation with Kochi and all the other ports in INAP through the exchange of goods. Through these activities, we hope that INAP can contribute to both the economic growth of the world and world peace.
China places great value on its economic exchanges between Japan and Korea as well as between Southeast Asian countries. This is a favourable factor for INAP. Under these circumstances, I look forward to the further growth of INAP and each member port and pray that we all have a bright future of economic growth. Thank you very much.

【Mr. Tanda】
I am so impressed that role of ports is closely connected with the growth of the economy. Port of Qingdao not only supports the economy of Shandong Province, but also contributes to the economy of China. I would like to have some comments from Governor Daijiro Hashimoto.

【Mr. Hashimoto, Governor of Kochi】
Mr. Chang just told us that it was very important to promote friendship as well as economic exchange. As I listen to the presentation, I realise something- that we are all sitting here as members and officials of our respective governments. We are responsible for the management of the ports of each of our respective region. However, it is not us but the businesses belonging to our various regions that are actually conducting trade. So if we try to promote economic exchange, what we need to do is to encourage not only our exchange of officials but also more visits by members of businesses of our various regions. As a result of the past several years of this INAP symposium that has rotated from country to country, we in Kochi Prefecture have formed economic mission of businesses from Kochi who are interested in each of various regions of the INAP host countries. Each INAP symposium brought this mission to each of these countries.
What I am about to talk about has not resulted in actual trade yet. When we went to the symposium in Tanjung Perak last year, we brought one of our local sweet potato manufacturing companies and went to nearby Surabaya where sweet potatoes were also being harvested. There was a discussion as to whether sweet potatoes from Surabaya could be used in Kochi. Even though we did not immediately begin actual trade, just seeing the region and talking to people alone brought about many new ideas and possibilities. I think we must push in this direction. In this way, I think it is very important that we further involve local businesses to visit one another’s regions in pursuit of new economic exchanges or trade.
Specifically, I remember the 2003 conference was in Qingdao. We had a shipbuilding company, which was using steel plastic, which went to Qingdao as well and decided to begin business there.
Moreover, I recall the 2004 conference in Cebu, to which we also brought several local companies. Some of them bought a number of products such as furniture and paper products, and after the 2005 conference, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a joint venture was established there and the importation of coconut products for use as agricultural materials was started as a result of bringing people to that INAP conference. Last year’s Tanjung Perak conference resulted in us importing Indonesian black sugar.
We are a very small port here in Kochi, so to some of the other much larger ports, these might seem like some very small examples. But in this way, I think it is very important we bring people each year and help to find new ideas in the way we can. So, through the ties among member ports of INAP, I hope that we can really bring some new energy to the South-East Asia region of trade.

【Mr. Tanda】
Thank you very much Governor. Next turn is Mr. Villamor please.

【Mr. Villamor, Port of Cebu】
I am Villamor, Deputy General Manager from Cebu Port Authority. Before I tell you what I think about how to achieve promotion of economic activities, I would like to add some information about the Port of Cebu.
Cebu has demonstrated great capability with an excellent economic track record. It is the second largest city in the Philippines and has the fastest economic growth rate. The growth rate of Cebu’s exports in the past 5 years has been about 20 percent. It is considerably higher than any other province in the Philippines. It leads the country in export items such as furniture, fashion accessaries, house wares, cosmetic seaweed products and so on. It is the most accessible place in the Philippines with more domestic air and sea links than Manila. Over 80 percent of inter island shipping capacity in the Philippines is based in Cebu. Cebu is a gateway to the central and southern Philippines.
Cebu has a very old history, dating back to the16th century. We have beautiful coral reefs and several volcanos. Cebu has one of the best records of peace and order in the country. Our labour forces descended from agricultural lines. They are one of the most productive groups in the country.
The development of infrastructure is needed. All regions must be competitive and sustain investment. In addition, as the governor mentioned, we seek to promote economic activities among member ports through missions. I believe the private sector needs to participate in our activities. Moreover, we need more support from central and local governments of our respective countries. Without proper support, our promotion of economic activities will not meet good results.
Last of all, in order to strengthen INAP activities, I suggest creating technical working groups composed of member ports which can coordinate all trade information coming from each member. Not just meeting each other and joining conference every year, there should be sustainable programmes with each of us actively participating so we can exchange ideas and information more frequently.

【Mr. Tanda】
Mr. Villamor suggests that we should exchange information quite often. I totally agree with him. I think the question of how to improve communication among INAP members is going to be an important issue. Thank you very much. We would like to have some comments from Mr. Salonga from Subic Bay.

【Mr. Salonga, Subic Bay】
On behalf of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, I would like to extend our appreciation to INAP for giving us the opportunity to share with our fellow members. A number of dramatic transformations are now going in Subic Bay. I am sure you already know the Philippines consists of 7000 islands. They are so diverse, so we need a transformation of coordination and integration. Fortunately, we have a leadership oriented in that direction
First of all, I would like to report transformations that are now going on in Subic Bay. Since Hanjin Heavy Industries Construction Corporation brought its $ 1.7billion investment to Subic Bay, we are becoming the 3rd largest ship exporter in South East Asia. Subic Bay is essentially replicating the experience of our sister port in the south, Cebu which has been leading the way in developing the export of shipping tonnages, and now has some joint ventures and shipbuilding programmes in the central Philippines.
I would like to extend an invitation to Japanese shipbuilders who would like to take advantage of the market for domestic shipping in the Philippines. According to JICA estimates, we need something like 2500 Ro-Ro tonnages ships to compensate for losses and aging in our domestic shippings fleet at the moment.
In terms of the total investment in Subic Bay, I would like to inform our successful results so far. Our total investment in 2006 amounted to $  1.4billion. We have already had $ 1.6billion investments in the middle of 2007. By the middle of 2007, we have already exceeded the entire investments of 2006. This is the dramatic change, now going on in Subic Bay. Moreover, to cope with such a change, I agree to the recommendation by Cebu that we should develop technical working groups, and we need to exchange ideas and communicate with each other more often rather than a once a year exercise.

【Mr Tanda】
Now it is Mr. Ariyadasa’s turn. You referred to more concentration on training employees in your earlier speech. Would you like to add something?

【Mr. Ariyadasa, Port of Colombo】
We are handling 3 million TEUs per year. As I mentioned in my presentation, we think we will reach our maximum capacity in 3 years. We are building a new port to handle the next generation of vessels. We are in a position to offer preferences and concessions of tariffs. Apart from the tariffs, we will give you a priority for whatever you export to member countries. With regard to the question that Mr. Tanda asked, we believe that developing human resources is essential to increasing our productivity, so we have separate training arms to develop employees.
Apart from that, I would like to comment on the recommendations made by Cebu Port. First, ports should have at least one contact person who is responsible for providing information. Second, sharing information with the members to promote and improve each member port’s operation. Finally, exchanging of people. Other than that, there is another suggestion made by Subic Bay. There should be an ongoing programme without resorting to this final assembly and symposium. Let us have working teams in each port who will work towards promoting trade, exchanging staff and so on among all member countries.

【Mr. Tanda】
Ladies and Gentlemen. We have nearly finished the first half of the panel discussion. Each panellist has already submitted ideas on how to promote business activities. I think Mr. Governor’s statement is especially important, because one of the ways to promote business is to set up some systems. For example, Kochi is sending economic missions to each host country every time an INAP conference is held to look for possibilities of economic exchange development. Do you think it is very useful or possible? Do you have any opinion on this kind of arrangement? How about you Mr. Baroto?

【Mr. Baroto, Port of Tanjung Perak】
In the next INAP conference, we should discuss the promotion of each port in terms of management, technology, and information systems as well as economic matters.

【Mr. Tanda】
Does anyone have some other ideas? What do you think, Mr. Villamor?

【Mr. Villamor, Port of Cebu】
In relation to information technology, I would like to suggest to INAP members to create an INAP website. Once the website is activated, each member can post all the information that they would like to share with other member ports. This could be left open for other businesses or the private companies, so that they can access our website. We could provide other information on an individual basis. For instance, Cebu can post possible prospect of business, contact persons, numbers or email addresses, allowing many business people from Japan, Korea and Indonesia to find the information they need. We should start connecting the network to business.

【Mr. Tanda】
Is there anyone who would like to say anything regarding this proposal made by Mr. Villamor? What about you Mr. Salonga?

【Mr. Salonga, Subic Bay】
I support the recommendation. We will be able to exchange and share all the information we need more frequently in the website.

【Mr. Tanda】
Do you have any opinion about website, Mr. Choi?

【Mr. Choi, Mokpo Newport】
I absolutely agree to the idea. I think it a is great idea. On top of that, how about assigning regular assistants and staff to do more practical procedure of the website?

【Mr. Tanda】
How about you, Mr. Chang?

【Mr. Chang, Qingdao Port】
I agree to everyone’s opinions.

【Mr. Tanda】
Is there any objection to creating this website?

【Mr. Ariyadasa, Port of Colombo】
No objection at all. I want to give my support to have a website and build a closer relationship. We should work closely and continue.

【Mr. Choi, Mokpo Newport】
I have one thing. It is important to come to a decision on who makes the website and who pays the fees. We need to discuss this matter later together.

【Mr. Tanda】
Thank you very much. I think this is realistic proposal because activating and maintaining the website will cost a lot of money. We can discuss it later. I would like each port to assign a person to be in charge of INAP activities so that communication among each member port can be more practical and speedy. Would anyone like to add something? If not, I would like the Governor to comment on something to close the panel discussion.

【Mr. Hashimoto, Governor of Kochi】
As we have just brought up discussion about the formation of a website, I definitely think that it is good idea. We should do it. We have heard many voices saying that as long as the INAP activities and all our feelings have united and built up to this level, it is important not to end our activities with a once-a-year festival but explore how we can engage in day-to-day communication. A website is one of the most practical, concrete ways we can begin to approach this issue. However, as Mr.Choi mentioned, it is very important to decide specific questions such as who is going to manage the website and who is going to pay the cost.
Up until now, we gathered INAP fees from members, but didn’t have any specific ways to use them, so at General Assembly yesterday, we decided not to collect fees anymore. However, now that we have a definite proposal such as this one, we can use the money. I think that this is a very positive development and we should expand this idea for the future.
Once again, I think it is very important that we do not let the INAP activities end up as once a year activities. So I think the idea of a website is very useful and we should follow up on this idea. As I mentioned earlier, until now we have been bringing economic missions to INAP host countries once a year to coincide with the conferences. I believe that if we could encourage more such exchanges in the private sector, so that they happen not just once but several times a year, we would see some great results. Former Sri Lankan Ports Minister Ashraff had a vision when he proposed the creation of INAP. He realised that we, as Asian nations, have many political and religious issues that divide us. Minister Ashraff had the idea that exchanges between ports could remove those walls and build ties of friendship between us. That vision is still important today, and over these last ten years, with Minister Ashraff’s vision and several other goals before us, we have been able to take a positive attitude in discussing how we can realise true economic exchange. That is encouraging us.
I also think one special characteristic of our INAP relationship is that it is not simply one-on-one port relationship, but a network of alliance ports that spans many different countries. Within this alliance of ports, we have ports such as Qingdao Port, which is big even by international standards, and we also have ports such as our own Kochi Port, which even within Japan is a small port. I think this is a significant feature. And also with this particular symposium, Mokpo New Port from Korea has joined our association. I think this is a very major development and I am very happy that they have joined our INAP relationship. In this way, I hope that we can make further progress with respect to exchange, and I believe that these ties among the member ports will lead to the advancement of our respective regions and countries.

【Mr. Tanda】
Thank you very much, Mr. Governor. We come to a conclusion that leads us to mutual understanding. I think there are still many subjects we have to discuss. However, time is running out so we can talk about it during lunch. Thank you for your cooperation.