Indonesian President Joko Widodo shakes hands with President Rodrigo Duterte during the launching of the Davao-Gensan-Bitung route at the Kudos Port in Davao City. The M/V Super Shuttle RORO 12, the first roll-on/roll-off vehicle to ply the new trade route made its maiden voyage on Sunday, April 30. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The M/V Super Roro Shuttle 12 left the Kudos Port in Sasa here to ply the Davao-General Santos-Bitung trade route for the first time.
President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo banged the gong that signaled the ship’s departure at 10:10 am on Sunday.
The Super Roro Shuttle is expected to dock in Bitung, North Sulawesi on May 2. The new trade route cuts the five-week travel time of the previous Davao-Manila-Jakarta route to a maximum of two days.
Duterte said the historic maiden voyage “marks another milestone in historical ties between the Philippines and Indonesia.”
“Our unique bond was shaped by the vast seas that connect us. As early as the pre-colonial ties, these vast seas provide for the route of barter trading and facilitate the flow of people from and to our respective territories,” Duterte said.
Duterte said the Davao-Gensan-Bitung route would be the first of many routes to be established as part of an international RORO network that was envisioned by other ASEAN state leaders to “provide greater accessibility and open more opportunities.”
“As we open this maritime trade route, we must reaffirm our ties with each other and commit ourselves to aspirations of a larger ASEAN community,” he said.
The M/V Super Shuttle 12, which has a cargo carrying capacity of 500 twenty-foot equivalent units, will be transporting animal feeds, fertilizer, construction materials, ice cream products, poultry, fresh fruits, and synthetic from Davao and General Santos to Bitung.
With this, Mindanao private sector expects to import matured coconut, copra, corn, feed ingredients, lumber, cement, and many high value crops, among others.
Enterprising businesses are expected to save around $ 1,500 (P 75,000) in using this route given that it only costs $ 700 (P 34,713) per TEU. In contrast, the Dava-General Santos-Manila, Jakarta costs about $ 2,200 (P109,098) per TEU.
Meanwhile, Widodo lauded Duterte’s approach in leadership, who like himself, vowed to “address the imbalance” of development in his country.
“President Duterte, I know you care deeply for the areas of your proud country that are far from the capital city of Manila,” Widodo said.
“I too, when I took office about two and a half years ago, we saw the need to address the imbalance in Indonesia. Most of the development was concentrated on the island of Java near where the capital of Jakarta. Today, our infrastructure development program is focused on the other regions of Indonesia, we call it building a nation from outside inward,” he added.
Widodo served as mayor of Solo City in Indonesia for seven years, and governor of Jakarta for two years, before winning the presidency in 2014.
$1 = P50.21
