Land of a thousand rivers builds roads to move goods
WEST KALIMANTAN COOPERATES WITH OTHER BORNEO PROVINCES TO IMPROVE ITS INFRASTRUCTURE

West Kalimantan, known as the ‘Land of a Thousand Rivers’, has an agriculture-based economy which has grown by around six percent over the past two years. The Governor, Aspar Aswin, explains that there is still room for improvement. “We feel we can better this rate, because most of it is based on output from the agriculture sector, and there is still the mining sector to develop. When this happens the combined growth will be higher,” he says.
Mining (of gold, quartz and other minerals) contributes less than two percent to the economy, while manufacturing (mainly agribusiness and food processing) accounts for nearly a fifth. Tourism is growing and now contributes about 20 percent to the provincial government’s revenues.

ASPAR ASWIN Governor of West Kalimantan Province

The main exports are timber, palm oil, rubber, fresh fruit, coconut products and fish. The majority of the population is engaged in work on plantations and in the fishing industry.
The province is promoting itself for investment and Mr. Aswin would like to see more foreign capital forming joint ventures with local small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for nearly 60 percent of the economy.
West Kalimantan collaborates with the other provinces on several key economic levels. For example, all palm oil is sent to West Kalimantan for processing. “That is probably where our main advantage lies,” says Mr. Aswin.
“Although every province is doing its own promotion, we have an agreement to develop Kalimantan together as a whole,” he adds. “That’s why, in order to support this economic agreement, we are asking investors to come to all four provinces.

RIVER TRANSPORT River transport is the main way of moving goods.

“We want to develop regional infrastructure, like the Borneo highway and the Trans-Kalimantan railroad.” These two big projects also involve Brunei and the two Malaysian provinces, Sabah and Sarawak.
River transport is used throughout West Kalimantan, either as the main means for moving goods, or to access some of the interior’s more remote communities. “To build the economy we need to improve the basic infrastructure, especially water, electricity and telecommunications. We also need infrastructure like modern harbors and airports and we are now working on these,” Mr. Aswin says.

Currently, the main port can receive vessels of a maximum of 3,500 tons and the main airport has recently been upgraded to land a Boeing 737.
Some funds have been provided by the World Bank and other donors in the international community, but Mr. Aswin is aware that this won’t be sufficient and that the fastest way to proceed is through direct links with foreign business.
“Donor aid certainly isn’t sufficient to support the infrastructure projects, from improving and maintaining West Kalimantan’s thousands of miles of rural roads to creating a deepwater port.”

Mr. Aswin says he aims to attract funding for intensive agriculture production using new technology from US and European investors. “The obstacle to development is that we don’t have a big enough budget,” he adds. Mr. Aswin, who is in the last year of his second five-year term of office as Governor, says recent years have been particularly busy because of the decentralization program.
“This second term has been more challenging than the first because of the reforms and new regulations governing the provinces,” he says. “But I’m ambitious and there is still a lot to achieve. My hope for the future is the development of human resources, to maintain good relations with our neighbors, and to continue to develop our province to achieve a better life for the people.”

Pontianak, the provincial capital which lies on the equator, is a thriving city of about 600,000, with nearly a quarter of its residents of Chinese descent. There are good hotels in the capital and other towns in West Kalimantan, and some of the newer ones have been built with tourists in mind near the national parks.
Public transport connects the main towns and also links West Kalimantan to the Malaysian province of Sarawak. There are five airports to fly to, of which Supadio in Pontianak is only a little over one hour’s flight from Jakarta.
About two-thirds of the province is covered with tropical rainforest. There are unique plants such as black orchids, red palms and the spectacular giant rafflessia. With a rich and varied wildlife, including the orangutan, West Kalimantan has huge potential for eco-tourism.
In the Land of a Thousand Rivers (the longest of which is 600 miles), the speedboat is king. River trips deep into the jungle can be undertaken, although with a daily average temperature hovering around 300 centigrade and high humidity, it is not for the faint-hearted.