ID :
34326
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 21:26
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REGULATION CENTRALIZING IMPORT PORTS MUST BE REVIEWED : MINISTER
Pekanbaru, Riau province, Dec 6 (ANTARA) - The government regulation limiting the number of import ports, or centralizing ports allowed to handle imports, needs to be reviewed because it impedes economic development of certain regions, a cabinet minister said.
"The regulation about import ports needs to be reevaluated so that it will not hamper development of the economic potentials of certain regions," Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said at a meeting with the Riau chapter of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI).
He said Trade Minister's Regulation No.44/2008 about the Importation of Certain Products was actually intended to prevent ports from being used to bring in illegal imports into the country as such goods could disturb the market of national products.
Under the regulation, only five ports were allowed to receive five kinds of imported goods, namely electronics, textiles, toys, food, and beverages.
The five ports were Belawan (North Sumatera), Tanjung Priok (Jakarta), Tanjung Mas (Central Java), Tanjung Perak (East Java) and the international port of Makassar.
Radjasa said he regretted that Dumai port in Riau province was not on the list of ports allowed to receive imports.
After the trade minister's regulation takes effect on December 15, 2008, Dumai port would no longer be allowed to serve as the gate for imports needed in Riau province. All of Dumai's import activities would be transferred to Belawan port in North Sumatra from where Riau's imports would be sent to Riau via an overland transport line.
"I know very well that Dumai port has always been part of the ocean-going port system and of strategic value because it directly faces the international trade routes in the Malacca Strait," Radjasa , a former transportation minister, said.
"I promise I will discuss the revision of the import ports and Dumai port issues with the trade minister," he said
Earlier, Riau province's governor, HM Rusli Zainal, had protested the centralization of import ports to the exclusion of Dumai port. The measure would disadvantage Riau province, he said.
The ban on imports to go through Dumai port would threaten Riau province's plan to make Dumai city a Special Economic Zone (KEK). The measure would also cause 2,000 people working in formal and informal positions in and near Dumai port to lose their jobs, the governor said.
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"The regulation about import ports needs to be reevaluated so that it will not hamper development of the economic potentials of certain regions," Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said at a meeting with the Riau chapter of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI).
He said Trade Minister's Regulation No.44/2008 about the Importation of Certain Products was actually intended to prevent ports from being used to bring in illegal imports into the country as such goods could disturb the market of national products.
Under the regulation, only five ports were allowed to receive five kinds of imported goods, namely electronics, textiles, toys, food, and beverages.
The five ports were Belawan (North Sumatera), Tanjung Priok (Jakarta), Tanjung Mas (Central Java), Tanjung Perak (East Java) and the international port of Makassar.
Radjasa said he regretted that Dumai port in Riau province was not on the list of ports allowed to receive imports.
After the trade minister's regulation takes effect on December 15, 2008, Dumai port would no longer be allowed to serve as the gate for imports needed in Riau province. All of Dumai's import activities would be transferred to Belawan port in North Sumatra from where Riau's imports would be sent to Riau via an overland transport line.
"I know very well that Dumai port has always been part of the ocean-going port system and of strategic value because it directly faces the international trade routes in the Malacca Strait," Radjasa , a former transportation minister, said.
"I promise I will discuss the revision of the import ports and Dumai port issues with the trade minister," he said
Earlier, Riau province's governor, HM Rusli Zainal, had protested the centralization of import ports to the exclusion of Dumai port. The measure would disadvantage Riau province, he said.
The ban on imports to go through Dumai port would threaten Riau province's plan to make Dumai city a Special Economic Zone (KEK). The measure would also cause 2,000 people working in formal and informal positions in and near Dumai port to lose their jobs, the governor said.
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