WATCH! Pres Duterte and Indonesian Pres Widodo Witnessed the 1st RORO Vessel Between the Philippines and Indonesia to Save PH Money..

Davao City (CNN Philippines, April 30) — No less than President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed the first Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) vessel to ply the Davao City-General Santos- Bitung, Indonesia route.

This project under the ASEAN will offer weekly trips at a much faster travel time - from three to five weeks to just two to three days.

It is expected to generate savings of about $1, 500 or about ₱74,000 per TEU or Twenty-foot Equivalent Units containers, for those who still have to bring their products all the way to Manila before moving them to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Though this new RoRo route links the Philippines and Indonesia, it's also expected to ease movement of goods to and from Brunei and Malaysia.

In a speech at the launch of the Davao/General Santos-Bitung ASEAN RoRo Shipping Service this morning, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said, "I hope that this new RoRo service between Davao and General Santos and Bitung will represent new opportunities that will foster new businesses for our people."

President Duterte is calling on private sector to do their part in utilizing the route.

He said, "I therefore call upon the private sector to play their part in harnessing the potentials of this new RoRo network. By promoting this route, you do not only take advantage of the opportunities, but also contribute to the sustainability of this entire regional shipping network."

The route is expected to ease the delivery of feeds, fertilizers, fruits, construction materials, and poultry from the Philippines to Indonesia, and at the same time help the Philippines import items like cement, coffee, peanuts, soya, and charcoal from Indonesia.

The tourism sector is also expected to benefit from this with the RoRo available to ferry tourists to and from the two countries.

This route though comes with a problem, waters in this part of the region are threatened by piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping.

To address this problem, it's been agreed that Coast Guard vessels accompany commercial boats traversing the waters.

Commodore Joel Garcia, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Coast Guard said, "Over there...is a new Coast Guard vessel will be escorting the RoRo...when the vessel, the RoRo, reaches the border between the Philippines and Indonesia, our counterpart – 'yung Coast Guard nila [their Coast Guard] – will pick up our vessel and safely escort the vessel."

SOURCE : CNN NEWS