Authors: Muh. Fadli Budiman, Dini Ratnasari, Al Fath Putra
Reviewers: Farid Al-Firdaus, Dwi Martutiningrum, Priska Maya Putri, Alfi Nabila
Indonesia’s Logistics Challenges
Indonesia, comprising 17,380 islands and 745 active ports, is situated along key routes such as the Malacca and Sunda Straits, through which nearly 30% of global maritime trade passes (Rodrigue et al., 2022). This strategic position offers strong potential for Indonesia to become a global maritime hub. However, realizing this vision requires an efficient logistics system supported by digital integration among customs and port authorities.
Persistent inefficiencies hinder progress. Operators must repeatedly submit the same documents, crew lists, manifests, and vessel details to multiple agencies, including Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, and the Ministry of Transportation, due to fragmented governance and paper-based processes. This duplication and lack of interoperability have raised logistics costs to 14.29% of GDP (Bappenas, 2023), pushing Indonesia’s Logistics Performance Index ranking from 46th in 2018 to 64th in 2023[1]. Addressing these constraints requires integrating Customs and port systems as the foundation for the Maritime Single Window (MSW) promoted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
This article aims to examine Indonesia’s initiatives in customs reform, port digital transformation, and ASEAN trade facilitation to enhance competitiveness and advance its 2045 maritime hub vision.
Enhancing Customs and Port Efficiency through the NLE
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) developed the Customs-Excise Information System and Automation (CEISA) to digitalize Indonesia’s customs and excise processes. Advancing toward a smart customs framework will enable deeper integration with port authorities, leveraging AI, blockchain, and IoT to enhance transparency, efficiency, and supply chain supervision.
Building on these digitalization efforts, the government launched the National Logistics Ecosystem (NLE) through Presidential Instruction No. 5 of 2020 to streamline processes and strengthen inter-agency collaboration between Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ). Effective supply chain collaboration reduces inventories and costs while improving speed, service quality, and customer satisfaction[2]. Despite challenges such as weak coordination, limited technological readiness, and gaps in human resource capacity, NLE has progressively restructured the logistics ecosystem. Through system integration, regulatory harmonization, and extensive socialization, 17 disparate processes have been consolidated into a single integrated service flow[3].
Key innovations such as SSm Pengangkut, which eliminates repetitive vessel documentation, and SSm Quarantine-Customs, which accelerates cargo clearance through joint inspections, were implemented in 46 and 32 ports by 2024 (LNSW, 2025). Together with platforms like Delivery Order Online and Container Delivery Letter, these initiatives have streamlined vessel and cargo services. A 2023 Prospera survey of 1,393 business operators across 14 ports confirmed significant time and cost savings in maritime logistics, as shown below:
Source: PROSPERA – Australia Indonesia Partnership for Economic Development (2024)
Indonesia in the ASEAN Single Window: Advancing Trade Facilitation toward a Maritime Hub Vision
Although digitalization reforms have improved efficiency in port and customs processes, Indonesia’s transformation cannot be assessed solely at the national level. In today’s global supply chains, national efficiency must be linked to regional interoperability, making Indonesia’s participation in the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) a key component of its trade facilitation efforts.
The ASW is an environment where the National Single Windows of Member States operate and integrate[4], enabling the exchange of electronic trade documents such as the e-Form D, ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD), and e-Phyto. This integration has reduced paper-based submissions, enhanced data security, and lowered trade costs. By 2022, more than one million e-Form D and 1.7 million ACDD had been exchanged, saving businesses USD 150 million and six million operational days[5]. Overall, the implementation of the ASW has saved ASEAN businesses more than USD 6.4 billion, reduced the average transit time of four days per transaction, and facilitated the exchange of over four million electronic documents[6].
As Indonesia advances its role in the ASW, the next step is aligning regional integration with global standards through the Maritime Single Window (MSW), which complements the ASW by enhancing data exchange and procedural efficiency.
Maritime Single Window Integration: Enhancing Port Efficiency Through Digital Systems
Integrating customs and port digital systems into a collaborative logistics platform, reinforced by data exchange mechanisms through the ASW, represents Indonesia’s effort to realize the MSW, a program under the IMO, a specialized United Nations agency responsible for international maritime regulations. MSW can be defined as a one-stop service environment that covers maritime and port administrative procedures[7]. These include port entry/departure declarations, security reports, port call business information, and other related information exchanged between actors in the port call process nationwide. The goal is to enhance competitiveness as a maritime hub, as illustrated in the following flow:
Source:Processed by Author (2025)
One of the key standards for implementing the MSW requires all contracting governments to establish an electronic information exchange system[8]. The exchange of data between public authorities and other parties concerned should be limited in conformity with UN Standards[9].
This particular system would increase the time and cost efficiency in the global maritime logistics sector. MSW has created a global standardization in the maritime logistics sector, including seaport data integration.
As a practical benchmark for Indonesia, Singapore’s national Maritime Single Window, digitalPORT@SG™, consolidates 16 forms into a single portal to streamline vessel, immigration, and port health clearances. Over 550 shipping companies can submit, track, and receive approvals for arriving and departing ships, saving up to 100,000 man-hours annually[10]. This example highlights Indonesia’s potential to enhance maritime efficiency and competitiveness by adopting a similar MSW system. Therefore, the implementation of MSW standards would enhance Indonesia’s competitiveness as a regional maritime hub.
Conclusion
The complexity of governance, manual procedures, and limited integration remain major obstacles to Indonesia’s logistics system. Through the modernization of the Customs and NLE, the government has responded by streamlining procedures and implementing integrative applications that have proven effective in enhancing time and cost efficiency in the maritime logistics sector.
By advancing integration across three levels, through the NLE at the national level, the ASW at the regional level, and the MSW at the global level under the framework of the IMO, Indonesia enhances domestic efficiency, strengthens regional connectivity, and aligns with international maritime standards, thereby consolidating its position as a leading candidate for a regional maritime hub by 2045.
Reference
- World Bank. (2023). Connecting to compete 2023: Trade logistics in the global economy – The Logistics Performance Index and its indicators. World Bank, p. 10.
- Vargas, A., Patel, S., & Patel, D. (2018). Towards a Business Model Framework to Increase Collaboration in the Freight Industry. MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute),ISSN 2305-629, 2(4), 22.
- Zaki, M. R. S., Chendana, D. P., & Slaat, M. A. (2021). National Logistic Ecosystem (NLE) as Indonesian trade strategy in ASEAN to improve national economy. SciTePress, 1, 248–255.
- Agreement to Establish and Implement the ASEAN Single Window, 9 December 2025, Part I, Article I, page 3
- ASEAN Annual Report 2022 – 2023, ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth Vol 43, July 2023, page 33
- Vietnam Trade Information Portal, Status of ASEAN Single Window implementation and possibility of upgrading to new generation ASEAN Single Window, December 19, 2024. Available at: [https://vntr.moit.gov.vn/news/status-of-asean-single-window-implement,theation-and-possibility-of-upgrading-to-new-generation-asean-single-window?]
- International Maritime Organization, Guidelines For Setting Up A Maritime Single Window FAL.5/Circ.42/Rev.4, April 2nd 2025, page 8
- Annex 1 International Maritime Organization, FAL Convention: Convenmemberscreatesreducestion on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic 2017 Edition, page 1used0
- Annex 1.6 and 1.6 bis International Maritime Organization, FAL Convention: Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic 2017 Edition, page 10
- Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. (2025). digitalPORT@SG™. Available at: https://www.mpa.gov.sg/finance-e-services/digitalport@sg
- https://indonesia2045.go.id
- https://nle.insw.go.id/
- https://www.imo.org/en/ourwork/facilitation/pages/maritimesinglewindow-default.aspx