Indonesian gov't urged to take action on illegally imported goods

The Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) Monday urged the government to avoid reindustrialization on consumer goods sector by strictly taking action on illegally imported goods.

APINDO Chairman Sofyan Wanandi said that the illegal products threaten local products to boom in the Islamic festivities of Ramadan and Eid-el-Fitr, when consumers' purchasing power is on the peak.

"We cannot be the master in our own country if the government does not take action on the illegal products," Wanandi told reporters.

According to Wanandi, the illegal products are 10-15 percent cheaper than local ones as they do not have to pay taxes.

Besides, weakening U.S. dollars put benefits for the imported products, he said.

"In the meantime, our products are burdened by transportation cost and recent increasing power tariff hike," Wanandi said.

He took an example of local biscuit sales, which experienced a decline of 25 percent while legally imported biscuit skyrocketed 1, 100 percent in recent months.

"That's the legal ones. The illegal ones must be far more than that," he said.
(Source:xinhua)