Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) urged the government to stop doing the import of salt. As a maritime country, Indonesia has a huge potential to develop the salt industry. "I hope the import of salt has to stop immediately because we have potential to do the production," said M.S Hidayat, Chairmin of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) through the Feed The World agenda at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Jakarta on Monday (24 August 2009).
According to him, the government should refer to rice imports termination decision and delegating authority to the Bulog (National Logistical Supply Organization) for rice distribution. As result of this decision, Hidayat said, Indonesia does not need to import rice this time. Moreover, he said, State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and other private companies believed has capable of producing salt to fullfil the domestic needs if given the convenience by the government. "We are maritime country, why we should import salt," he added.
According to Hidayat, the proposed termination of salt imports would soon be submitted to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this month. "In order to be included in the 100-day work program and 5 years ahead," he added.
Hidayat said, in the past year, Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) noted that salt imported by Indonesia reached almost IDR 1 trillion. To stop the import of salt, he said, the government could do in the near future is to raise the import tax. Even so, it turns out that the government does not have specific policies related to salt. Deputy Coordinating Minister for Agriculture and Marine Division Krisnamurthi admitted, currently the government did not have a specific policy for the salt that is less interested of private investors.
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