Indonesia Scraps Import Tariff for Industrial Goods

The Indonesian government scrapped 182 import duties for raw material and processing equipment, aimed at helping the development of five industrial sectors, a senior official at the financial ministry said here on April 27, 2011.

Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of fiscal policy-making at the ministry said that such a policy that reduces the import tariffs from 5 percent to zero, would greatly help basic chemical, food, machinery, electronics and ship dockyard industries in the country.

He said that the country's filmmaking industry would also take benefit from the policy as electronics film producing equipment will be exempted from the tariffs.

"The import duties scrap on those items was to make industries using those raw materials and equipments more competitive," Bambang told a press conference.