Agency calls for campaign to push use of domestic products
Agency calls for campaign to push use of domestic products
JAKARTA (JP): The influential National Business Development
Council (DPUN) has asked President Abdurrahman Wahid to start a
campaign for the people and companies to use more locally made
products.
Head of DPUN Sofyan Wanandi said in a press conference on
Friday that there was now a trend among local companies,
including state enterprises, to use imported products instead of
domestic products.
"People are now looking for excuses not to use domestic
products," he said, pointing out as an example that state owned
oil and gas firm Pertamina had been using imported products in
developing its infrastructure projects.
He said that the issue had been discussed at the Monday
cabinet meeting with Abdurrahman, who is also called by his
nickname Gus Dur. DPUN attends the weekly cabinet meeting.
Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(Kadin) Aburizal Bakrie said that the campaign was needed because
if the problem continued, the multi-billion dollar investments
made by local manufacturers would vanish.
Aburizal said that local manufactures had been systematically
prohibited from supplying their products to various projects of
state owned enterprises because the contractor had designed a
requirement that was "impossible" to be fulfilled by the local
industry.
He pointed out that local manufacturers of container cranes
had not been unable to supply their products for the development
of a joint venture shipping port in Surabaya because the
contractor required that the producer must have 10 years
experience.
"This kind of requirement is absurd. It's merely designed to
protect the interests of the foreign partners," he said, adding
that the quality of the local product was good because they have
been exported to Japan and other countries.
Aburizal also said that the specifications for the pipe and
requirements for the supplier for Pertamina's West Natuna gas
project were also made to prevent local pipe makers from joining
the bidding.
Pipe makers were required to have a net asset value of more
than US$2 billion to be able to supply pipe to the projects.
"This has nothing to do with product quality. Our pipe
products have also been exported," he said.
Aburizal is the owner of the Bakrie Group which has a pipe
making subsidiary.
Elsewhere, Sofyan said that DPUN had also asked Gus Dur to
take immediate action to resolve the ongoing security problems at
home.
He said that the domestic security problem had already
prompted businesses to withhold investments and delay plans.
He also said that the uncertainty had caused local exporters
to park their earnings overseas.
"It is important to resolve the security problems quickly, and
the President agrees," he said.
Sofyan dismissed rumors that he had "whispered" to the
President at the Monday cabinet meeting to detain certain
political elites allegedly related to the current social and
security problems.
"It is absolutely not true. The cabinet meeting is attended by
many other people, you can check it with them," he said.
Sofyan also said that he had suggested the state owned Pelindo
II port operator delay its earlier decision to raise charges for
its services by 50 percent to 100 percent.
He said that the Minister of Communications would hold a
meeting with exporters and Pelindo to discuss the matter. (rei)