New decree for fishing-boat imports

New decree for fishing-boat imports

JAKARTA (JP): The government announced a set of requirements
yesterday for companies wishing to import fishing boats, in a
move to ensure that local companies buy local ships, following
the fisheries deregulation package issued in July.

Director General of Fisheries F.X. Murdjijo said the
requirements were expected to guarantee that local fishing
companies would still buy boats from local manufacturers. He was
speaking at a press conference also attended by fisheries
executives.

The requirements are stipulated in a Director General of
Fisheries decree on the purchase of fishing and lading vessels
dated Oct. 9, 1996.

The July deregulatory measures let local fishing firms buy
imported ships.

"But domestic fishing companies must prioritize the purchase
of domestic products. Only when domestic boats do not meet
current demand, can the companies import foreign vessels," he
said.

Murdjijo said Indonesia needed 240 more fishing boats every
year.

According to the July measures, locally made ships should be
purchased in preference to foreign ships.

"If the domestic shipping industry can provide 40 vessels, for
example, the remaining 200 may be imported," Murdjijo said.

He refused to reveal the production capacity of Indonesia's
ship-building companies, but earlier reports said that local
manufacturers could produce about 160 vessels a year, or two-
thirds of domestic demand.

Murdjijo said that, according to the decree, local fishing
companies could import boats if they had a fishing business
license or a permanent license, and if they used the vessels for
their own businesses.

Imported fishing boats may only operate within the exclusive
economic zone, while imported lading boats may only transport
cargo from the ports of ships bearing foreign flags.

The decree further states that priority on purchasing foreign
boats will go to fishing companies already conducting partnership
programs with small-scale fishing operations and cooperatives.
Priority will also go to firms that have bought at least two
ships over 30 gross tons or with inboard motors over 90 horse
power; to firms that have invested in cold-storages, canning
factories and infrastructure, such as shipping docks or harbors;
or to firms that are committed to buying new, domestically-
manufactured fishing boats.

Nationalism

"We need to state this so that local fishing firms will
continue to buy from local shipyards... We're asking for
nationalism," Murdjijo said.

"The more requirements a company can meet, the bigger
opportunity it has to import foreign ships," he added.

Local fishing companies have long complained that locally-
manufactured vessels are too expensive compared to foreign ships
and that banks are reluctant to give them loans because of risk.

On the price of fishing boats, Murdjijo said the government
was planning to reduce import taxes on components used by local
dockyards to reduce the price of locally-built ships.

He said the fishing companies allowed to import fishing
vessels would be determined by a team consisting of the director
generals of fisheries, sea transportation, metal and machinery
and chemical industries, the deputy of applied and basic science
studies of the Agency for Technology Assessments and Applications
and the assistant to the coordinating minister of production and
distribution.

The decree stated that companies should submit their proposals
to import fishing boats before the proposals are considered
between Oct. 17 and Dec. 17, 1996. In future years, selection of
suitable companies will be made annually. (pwn)