Jokowi Gives Nod to Industrial Salt Imports

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo agreed to import industrial salt to accommodate the requirements of industries.

“The president agreed to directly import industrial salt for the food industries with the recommendation of the Ministry of Industry,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told a virtual press conference broadcast via the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.

Luhut spoke to media after attending a meeting with Jokowi and some ministers on Monday, October 5.

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Luhut said that Jokowi also gave permission to food industries to import sugar.

However, Luhut emphasized that the permission comes with a responsibility for strict adherence to rules and regulations for importing salt and sugar. To do so, he added, Jokowi has assigned Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to oversee the importation.

“The Minister of Industry knows best how it works. This includes how many industries need for industrial salt and the amount of salt they need,” he said.

Any violations to rules governing sugar and salt imports will be dealt with through sanctions such as the revocation of import permits that the Ministry of Industry will impose, Lumut added.

“So, for example, the glass industry needs the supply for salt and they import it. If a violation is found, such as when the imported salt is sold in the domestic market and leads to suppressed prices, then their import permits will be revoked,” said Luhut.

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At the opening of the meeting at the Presidential Palace, Jokowi disclosed the reasons Indonesia imports salt until now — domestic salt production remains low.

“Our domestic salt production is still low, so the easiest way to secure the supply is to import salt. It has been going on for a long time and no solution has been made,” said Jokowi.

Jokowi said that the total domestic consumption of salt in 2020 reached four million tons. However, the domestic production of salt only managed to reach half of it. Jokowi urged the relevant parties to resolve the matter and should no longer import salt.

He also ordered his ministers to make major improvements in domestic salt production from upstream to downstream, including assisting local salt producers to improve the quality of their production.

“As of September 22, there are still 738,000 tons of locally produced salt that are not absorbed by our industry. We need to find a solution so that the local-produced salt will be marketable,” said Jokowi.

(Writer: Ihsanuddin | Editor: Diamanty Meiliana)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/10/05/14083381/jokowi-izinkan-impor-garam-dan-gula-untuk-industri?page=2.