Publisher’s Note
Breaking new ground, with the new RORO
I
t is said that no man is an island.
And every man, or country, always needs a good neighbor to
rely on. While this can be in the form of help and support among
people, this will mean boosting trade and growth opportunities
beneficial to all parties and stakeholders in the case of two, or
more, countries.
That concept of neighbourliness borne out of the second
premise saw it bear fruit with the formal inauguration of the roll-on
roll-off (RORO) ferry service that spans the route Davao City-General
Santos-Bitung, Indonesia launched last April 30.
Inaugurated by Presidents Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Joko Widodo
of the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively, this new sea linkage
will provide a cheaper, faster and more direct and efficient avenue
for trading goods among two of the key cities of still yet another very
strong growth sub-area within ASEAN itself, the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-
Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asia Growth Area).
Aside from enhancing its efficiency for businesses by drastically
cutting travel time and harnessing growth prospects for products
coming from that sub-area, the Davao-GenSan-Bitung RORO is truly
a manifestation that linking good neighbours well will augur for true
prosperity that can truly change the fortunes of any area in a very
positive and dynamic way.
In this not-so-certain era where borders and barriers are being built in
other parts of the world, the inauguration of the RORO is an invaluable
testimony that opening up more new doors of opportunity (to enhance
free trade and free movement of goods, people and services) with one
another, not shutting them down to promote protectionism, is the real
way towards moving forward.
PHILIP O. ORTALEZA
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