Jakarta. Government officials say Indonesia will open itself to future cooperation with Dutch aviation companies, especially in airport management.

The Transportation Ministry's director-general of civil aviation, Novie Riyanto, said airport management offers the most potentials for Dutch aviation companies to invest in.

"There are a lot of technology-related aspects [in airport management] where we can cooperate with the Dutch companies," Novie said after giving the keynote speech at the "Indonesia-The Netherlands Civil Aviation" conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"[They can help us with] creating an advanced system to manage large airports, managing traffic and managing terminals more effectively," he said. 

The conference – which coincided with a state visit by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima – was also attended by representatives from Dutch aviation companies including KLM, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and NACO Netherlands Airport Consultants.

Novie said he hoped the Dutch companies could take part in the public-private partnership (PPP) schemes to improve infrastructures at Indonesian airports that the government has been promoting in the past few years.

"[Hopefully] they could join our PPP [schemes] for airport management. They could help our airports, transportation system and tourism to be more connected [to the global market]," Novie said.

An airline as big as KLM could help Indonesia increase its connectivity to the global aviation industry. Such a collaboration could only result in positive outcomes for Indonesia, according to Novie. 

However, Novie also said any discussion on possible collaborations is still in its early stage as the government will take its time to learn what the Dutch aviation companies have got to offer.

Big Market 

Marcel Ingenhoest, a representative of Dutch airport consultant NACO, said the Indo-Dutch cooperation could begin with talent development, where knowledge transfer can easily happen.

"Staff exchange is an easy one, bringing in experienced and knowledgeable people to help out and to give training," Ingenhoest said.

Another possibility is for Dutch private investors or airports to buy shares in Indonesian airports. Ingenhoest pointed out Schiphol Airport had recently acquired Hobart Airport in Australia.

"[The cooperation] can also take the form of buying shares in local airports, something that's happening more and more internationally," Ingenhoest said.

According to him, notwithstanding the current coronavirus outbreak that has affected most economies in the world, the aviation market in Indonesia is a strong one.

"Indonesia is attractive because it's got a very strong aviation market. The national economy is also very strong and still growing. When the GDP per capita in a country is growing, its aviation industry is usually doing pretty well too," Ingenhoest said. 

Indonesian airlines catered to 76.6 million passengers last year, more than double the 35.6 million recorded a decade ago.