Strengthening its Position on the World Maritime Stage, PIS Shows Off in Greece
Strengthening its Position on the World Maritime Stage, PIS Shows Off in Greece
PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) together with representatives of the Indonesian shipping industry met and discussed with Greek shipping business players at the Indonesia-Hellenic Business Forum (IHBF) at the Piraeus Marine Club, Rhoades City, Greece, on June 5 2024.
In this forum initiated by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Athens, both parties shared experiences and strengthened trade relations.
This event was attended by PIS CEO Yoki Firnandi, Indonesian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (LBBP) to Greece Bebeb A.K. Nugraha Djundjunan and General Chair of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) Carmelita Hartoto, and business representatives from Greek shipping companies and related sectors.
“PIS’s presence at the 5th IHBF is a form of our commitment as the largest integrated marine and logistics company in the country to strengthen Indonesia’s position in the world maritime industry,” said Yoki Firnandi, quoted on Thursday (20/6/2024).
“As fellow archipelagic countries, Indonesia and Greece have quite close and long-standing bilateral relations, especially in trade, investment and tourism. In line with the Go-Global BUMN theme, this forum is our strategic platform to actively demonstrate the capabilities of shipping players from among “one of the largest archipelagic countries in the world to the international community and exploring various opportunities for cooperation that can benefit both countries,” he said.
Launched by the Indonesian Embassy in Athens in March 2023, IHBF is a special platform for Indonesian and Greek business people, to communicate with each other, exchange experiences, share lessons learned, and collaborate to improve trade, investment, tourism, business and economic relations between the two countries on a regular basis.
Big Opportunity for PIS and INSA
Indonesian LBBP Ambassador to Greece Bebeb A.K. Nugraha Djundjunan explained that this forum was a great opportunity for PIS and INSA to share Indonesia’s potential as a maritime country that continues to develop with business actors in Greece. Indonesia is actively seeking to make its mark in the fast-growing global shipping industry.
“Since 2023, we have made joint efforts to make the IHBF a platform where the business communities of the two countries can interact, find common ground and explore mutual interests. In line with the momentum of celebrating the 75th anniversary of Indonesia-Greece bilateral relations, we hope that this forum “can encourage new connections and opportunities for the country’s maritime industry, one of which is represented by PIS, through initiation, collaboration and cooperation,” he explained.
PIS’ participation in the IHBF is the result of close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Athens in line with the government’s direction to encourage the initiation of strategic cooperation between fellow Indonesian and Greek maritime business players. Yoki also assessed that the two countries could also learn a lot from each other about developing human resource capacity and technology, especially in the maritime sector considering that as a gateway to the European continent, Greece has long been known as a country with a strong maritime and shipping business.
Project Funding and Investment
Furthermore, Yoki explained, the results of the forum showed various opportunities for project funding and joint investment, including the development of training programs for workers in the shipping sector and the provision of ship maintenance and operational services.
“This is in line with PIS’ strategic agenda in improving the quality of human resources for seafarers and rejuvenating the fleet. In line with the government and Pertamina’s decarbonization commitment, we are also exploring cooperation in using environmentally friendly fuel in shipping operations, which PIS has pioneered in the domestic shipping industry through methods dual-fuel or dual fuel,” he said.
As the subholding parent of Integrated Marine Logistics of PT Pertamina (Persero), PIS, which consists of shipping, marine services and logistics, is projected to continue to grow both in terms of business and financial performance.
PIS currently has 102 tankers with 60 vessels having successfully sailed on international routes. In accordance with the company’s roadmap, PIS targets to reach a market capitalization of USD 7 billion with revenues of USD 8.9 billion in 2034.
“In line with the company’s roadmap, PIS has now become the largest integrated marine and logistics company and is growing significantly with Indonesia and in Southeast Asia. Europe is one of our global expansion targets. Previously, we opened offices in Singapore and Dubai to serve various international routes in addition to domestic routes for the distribution of fuel and other commodities such as green cargo. We hope that our steps at IHBF can continue to improve bilateral and economic relations between Indonesia and Greece in the future.” closed Yoki.
