To Minister Boediono

To Minister Boediono

Dear Mr. Boediono, please read the news stories about the
smuggling of various goods, ranging from second-hand bicycles to
used helicopters, published in the mass media over the past two
weeks (Feb. 14 to Feb. 26).

In short, there is nothing that cannot be imported into our
country. Second-hand garments from abroad, which are trash in
their countries of origin, have glutted the country's garment
markets in recent years.

Mr. Minister, it is not unlikely that our country is now a
dustbin for other states' waste, especially because developed
countries like the U.S., Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc. are facing
a major problem in disposing of their waste.

When you were one of Bank Indonesia's directors, the Habibie
administration opened the country's markets to all foreign
products in an effort to win over the IMF. Some food and
agricultural products, which were once subject to import duties
or were banned from entering the country, have been allowed to
enter the country. As a result, foreign products are flooding our
markets today.

Unfortunately, although our government has allowed great
freedom to import goods, certain foreign producers, our own
importers and even our customs and excise officers themselves
have abused the facility. Consequently, many foreign items have
entered the country by means of three illegal methods, namely:
smuggling, underinvoicing and dumping.

Mr. Boediono, these three methods have begun to crush our
local industries. Take, for example, the manufacturers of
children toys. They are now out of business. Then the textile,
garment, footwear and sugar industries also collapsed. In the
case of the last mentioned, the sugarcane farmers have been
hardest hit. It is very likely that unless steps are taken to
eradicate the three methods referred to above, all our industries
will collapse. Should this happen, the country's economy will
suffer from zero or even minus growth, in which case millions of
Indonesians will become jobless.

DJOKO KRISTANTO

Jakarta