Singapore to make public trade statistics with Indonesia
Singapore to make public trade statistics with Indonesia
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a month of wrangling, the governments of Singapore and
Indonesia are now seeking to find a solution to settle the
dispute over discrepancies in the trade statistics between the
two countries.
George Yeo, Singapore's minister for industry and trade, said
in a letter dated July 9 that his government would make public
the bilateral trade statistics and take firm action against
companies involved in illegal trade between the two nations.
"I note the wish of the present Indonesian government that
these trade statistic should no longer be given confidentially to
the Indonesian side, but instead be published by the Singapore
government," Yeo said.
The letter was made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday,
in response to Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi
letter dated July 7.
Yeo did not specify when Singapore would start publishing the
trade statistics.
"As part of Singapore's accession to the HS Convention of the
World Customs Organization (WCO), we will be adjusting the
presentation of our overall and detailed trade data, including
inclusion of data for Indonesia," he said.
In response to Rini's request that Singapore take action
against smugglers domiciled in Singapore, Yeo said: "Where there
is evidence that Singapore laws have been breached, we will
investigate thoroughly and take firm action against the
offenders."
The two countries lie across the Straits of Malacca, one of
the world's busiest shipping lane. Indonesian oil and gas, along
with its timber and palm oil, often get exported via Singapore.
Yeo, however, turned down a demand from Indonesia to boost
cooperation through direct custom links via electronic data
exchange.
"Singapore's laws (the Statistics Act and the Regulation of
Imports and Exports Act) prohibit the disclosure of information
submitted by traders without their express consent," he said.
Rini has also asked Singapore to set up a joint border patrol
to curb smuggling, but Singapore has thus far made no response.
On June 10, Rini and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda voiced complaints to the Indonesian press about
Singapore's reluctance to reveal comprehensive data on bilateral
trade between the two countries.
They complained about the wide discrepancies in the trade data
set out in the Singapore Trade Statistics and the figures issued
by Indonesia's Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
In the 2002 trade data, for example, Singapore recorded non-
oil exports to Indonesia as amounting to US$2.25 billion,
compared to the $2.44 billion reported by the BPS.
The Singapore government regularly sends trade data to the
Indonesian government in confidential letters. The public
speculated that former President Soeharto had deliberately asked
Singapore not to publish the data.
However, Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said
in his biography titled From Third World to First, that it was he
who asked Soeharto not to publish the data.
Lee wrote that on Nov. 29, 1976, he told Soeharto that he was
willing to provide Indonesia with unofficial trade data.
"I agreed to provide him, unofficially, with our trade
statistics to help them curtail smuggling, but asked that they
should not be made public. He (Soeharto) wanted these trade
figures to be published. I explained that as our statistics were
different from theirs, publication would cause more
misunderstanding. Soeharto was confident he could manage the
Indonesian press," Lee wrote.