while infrastructure connectivity is only one of several factors that affect trade
flows, it is likely that low levels of intra-IMT trade flows can be partially attributed to deficient
connectivity, and high transactions costs in the subregion. A previous study on international
integration in Asia, illustrates that countries that are poor in transport infrastructure performed
poorly in trade, paid substantially high transactions costs, and are naturally failing to reap the
full benefits on the globalization process (De, 2005). In figure 2, among the three IMT-GT
member countries, Indonesia has had the highest transactions cost, the lowest transport
infrastructure index, and the poorest port performance. To the extent a chain is only as strong as
its weakest link, this makes it evident that improvement of transport infrastructure facilities in
Indonesia will need to have relatively higher priority for IMT-GT economic corridor
develop