REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesia is expected to have two international, world-class ports, Bitung and Kuala Tanjung, operational by 2018 to act as logistics gates to the east and west of the country.

"We aim to have both ports in operation by 2018," Deputy Minister for Commerce and Entrepreneurship Eddy Putra Irawandi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Irawandi stated that work on both ports -- Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatera and Bitung in North Sulawesi -- is scheduled to start in 2015. Like Rotterdam in Europe, Long Beach in the US, and Shanghai in China, Bitung and Kuala Tanjung will be among the world's biggest ports.

"At least we will be at par with them," Irawandi added.

The deputy minister noted that with these two ports functioning, international logistics shipping lanes would be shortened. "Currently, ships from the Pacific or the US always pass through (the ports of) Yokohoma, Hong Kong, or Shanghai. They send containers to Singapore, which are then moved to Jakarta," he said.

By 2018, Irawandi claimed that logistics shipping could enter Indonesia directly through the two ports. "Ships from the Pacific could head to Bitung Port directly, while those from Europe and the Atlantic could head to Kuala Tanjung," he affirmed.

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