MINISTER CALLS FOR HIGH IMPORT DUTIES ON AGRICULTURAL TOOLS
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Industry Minister Fahmi Idris called on the Ministry of Finance to impose high import duties on agricultural machineries and tools which could have been produced and met domestic demand at home.
"We should have stopped the import of agricultural machineries and tools which could have been produced and have met domestic demand," the minister said after a meeting with associations in the agro-chemical sector here on Monday.
Fahmi said that so far the existing policies had not yet supported the growth of agricultural tools and machineries which production at home was very simple such as mattocks and sickles. Chinese tools of these types had flooded Indonesia, he said.
"In the past our orientation was import but the import duty scheme of this goods did not support industries (at home)," the minister added.
As a result, Indonesia`s agricultural tool industry did not develop though Indonesia was an agriculture-based country.
The minister said that simple agricultural tools such as mattocks and sickles should have been developed by small and middle scale industries at home, and should have been evenly distributed to the country`s agricultural production centers.
Fahmi was also of the view that the import duties --which ranged at 5-7.5 percent and were effective until 2009-- on agricultural tools were not conducive for the development of industries in the country.
He said that the finance ministry should encourage efforts to increase the import duties of finished agricultural tools but reduce the import tax for their raw materials.
"At present, the import duties on finished agricultural tools ranged at 5-7.5 percent but the one for their raw materials were about 15 percent," the minister said adding that the import duty for raw materials of this good should be zero percent.
He also expressed his hope that the imposition of high import duties on agricultural tools would not be limited only until 2009.(*)
"We should have stopped the import of agricultural machineries and tools which could have been produced and have met domestic demand," the minister said after a meeting with associations in the agro-chemical sector here on Monday.
Fahmi said that so far the existing policies had not yet supported the growth of agricultural tools and machineries which production at home was very simple such as mattocks and sickles. Chinese tools of these types had flooded Indonesia, he said.
"In the past our orientation was import but the import duty scheme of this goods did not support industries (at home)," the minister added.
As a result, Indonesia`s agricultural tool industry did not develop though Indonesia was an agriculture-based country.
The minister said that simple agricultural tools such as mattocks and sickles should have been developed by small and middle scale industries at home, and should have been evenly distributed to the country`s agricultural production centers.
Fahmi was also of the view that the import duties --which ranged at 5-7.5 percent and were effective until 2009-- on agricultural tools were not conducive for the development of industries in the country.
He said that the finance ministry should encourage efforts to increase the import duties of finished agricultural tools but reduce the import tax for their raw materials.
"At present, the import duties on finished agricultural tools ranged at 5-7.5 percent but the one for their raw materials were about 15 percent," the minister said adding that the import duty for raw materials of this good should be zero percent.
He also expressed his hope that the imposition of high import duties on agricultural tools would not be limited only until 2009.(*)
posted by Zumrowi Yunus at
2:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home