REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA -- The government will continue to adopt the cabotage principle in international sea transport, a senior official has said.

Secretary General of the Transport Ministry Sugihardjo said the universal standard would be observed, but as the regulator the government will give priority to national interest in international shipping.

Under the Indonesian cabotage principle, foreign ships are not allowed to operate in domestic transport and imports by the government are to be carried by Indonesian ships.

However implementation of the cabotage principle must not be too rigid while not too loose, Sugihardjo said after a meeting of Asean Transport Facility Working Group here recently.

He said the meeting also discussed result of tests of motor vehicles and driving license that are acceptable in all Asean.

"We agreed on conditions for vehicles declared fit for operation, import duties and excises for logistic costs and that we should learn from European countries," he said.

He said the meeting was held to bring to reality the the vision of single market and production basis as outlined in the blue print of Asean Economic Community.

For that purpose Indonesia Indonesia has to prepare more professional human resources in facing full implementation of AEC by the end of 2015, he said.

"Good preparation is needed both in the aspect of management as we are entering open market competition to win consumers, who will have wider opportunity to choose goods or services that would give them more benefits with competitive cost," he said.

Regulations and legal issues effective in each member country including transit transport and international transport agreements were also discussed at the meeting.

The discussions also covered exchange of information regional, trilateral and bilateral , cross border transport.

Sugihardjo said the results of the meeting would be recommended at a high level meeting or ministerial meeting of Asean.

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