Govt plans import tariff cutbacks
Govt plans import tariff cutbacks
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans import tariff cuts as part of its fresh economic deregulation package aimed to boost exports, Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo said here yesterday.
"Just wait. The package is expected to be announced soon," Tunky told reporters after meeting President Soeharto.
Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto said last week that the planned package was expected to be announced in January, at the latest.
Widjojo Nitisastro, an economic adviser to the government, also said recently that the government had prepared another deregulation package but its announcement is waiting for the outcome of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit in Osaka later this week.
Tunky explained that the planned package is aimed at boosting exports of certain commodities, including textiles, pulp, plywood and electronic products.
Exports of plywood and textiles, which have become the backbone of Indonesia's non-oil exports, experienced serious decline during the past years.
According to the Central Bureau for Statistics, Indonesia's plywood exports dropped by 14.15 percent during the first seven months of this year to US$1.98 billion from $2.3 billion in the same period of last year. For the whole year of 1994, exports of this commodity fell by 11.95 percent to $3.7 billion from $4.2 billion in the previous year.
Exports of textiles dropped by 6.19 percent last year to $5.8 billion from $6.2 billion in 1993. During the January-July period of this year, however, textile exports increased by 1.45 percent to $3.39 billion from $3.34 billion in the same period of last year.
The government has issued a number of economic deregulation packages in the past few years aimed at sustaining growth rates.
The latest package, announced last May, cut import tariffs on more than 6,000 items, or 64.16 percent of the existing tariffs.
Tunky said he would fly to Japan later yesterday to discuss the possible relocation of small-scale Japanese companies in Indonesia.
"This time, I will meet Japanese businessmen, not government officials," Tunky said. "I will, among others, discuss the relocation of small-scale Japanese electronic factories into Indonesia. We have prepared locations for them." (rid)