Regarding KCI Wanting To Buy Used Train Carriages From Japan, Ministry Of Industry: We Are Not Anti-Import But Prioritizing Local Products

KRL illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) plans to import electric train carriages (KRL) in the near future, bearing in mind that by next year there will be dozens of train sets that are no longer suitable for use, or they must be retired.

Responding to this, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said that his party was not against it, but it would be better to use domestically made products.

"So, the point is that we are not anti-import and our priority is to use domestic products. If there is a need, prioritize buying domestic products, how our industry can produce that," he told reporters at the Ministry of Industry Office, Jakarta, Tuesday, February 28.

In Febri's opinion, imports are not the best solution for now. This is because the instructions from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) require all stakeholders and the public to accelerate the growth of domestic products.

"Producing the carriages, doesn't it, takes time, yet our industry also needs time and the president's directive that we use the state budget, regional budget, and BUMN taxes to buy domestic products," he said.

According to Febri, PT KCI should have been more mature in making plans regarding the replacement of wagons that were no longer suitable for new ones, so there was no need to import them.

"Therefore, of course, the plan must be conveyed long ago. We want domestic manufactured products to be purchased, why? because if it is purchased, it will boost the national economy and domestic industry," he explained.

Therefore, said Febri, his party always reminds the Budget User Authority (KPA), or those who handle spending at BUMN/BUMD to make plans for spending on goods in advance, so as to suppress import activities from foreign countries.

"The capital expenditure is directed at spending on domestic products so that there is a deepening of the domestic industrial structure, in that structure, there is added value in the domestic industry, the economy increases, there are open jobs and there is also an increase in state revenue from it," explained Febri.

"That's why planning for spending on goods or procuring goods and services in the government, in BUMN must be planned in advance. You can predict how many train passengers will increase each year," he added.

Previously, the PH&H Public Policy Interest Group, Agus Pambagio, said that there would be 10 Jabodetabek KRL series this year and 16 series in 2024 that had to be retired. Instead, PT KCI must immediately order a new or used KRL series.

"For this reason, PT KCI has ordered replacement KRLs in accordance with the number of retired KRLs. On the one hand, the government wants PT KCI to order Jabodetabek KRL from PT INKA, but PT INKA is only able to provide KRL ordered by PT KCI in 2025 at a high price, " Agus said in a written statement received by VOI, Monday, February 27.

PT KCI is known to have signed an MoU with PT INKA for the KRL order, but since PT INKA's products cannot be realized in 2023 and 2024, PT KAI has asked for permission from the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) to be able to import used KRL procurement from Japan, of course through the procedures good manage.

Agus assessed that the import permits for used KRL turned out to be very bureaucratic and had the potential to disrupt Jabodetabek KRL services.

The Main Director of PT KCI himself has sent a Letter of Request for Dispensation in the Context of an Application for Approval for the Import of Capital Goods in a Non-New Condition to the Ministry of Trade through the Director General of Foreign Trade (Daglu) dated 13 September 2022.

Then, the Director General of Daglu wrote a letter to the Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) of the Ministry of Industry, regarding the Request for Submission and Response to the Plan to Import Goods in a Non-New Condition by PT KCI dated 28 September 2022.

"Through the letter, PT KCI plans to import Capital Goods in a Not New Condition (BMTB) in the form of 120 Type E217 KRL Units for 2023 needs and 228 Type E217 KRL Units for 2024 needs with Tariff Post/HS Code 8603.10.00," said Agus.

In matters of import, he continued, the Ministry of Industry has issued technical regulations for the import of used capital goods through the Minister of Industry Regulation Number 14 of 2016. These regulations strengthen the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 127 of 2015 concerning Provisions for the Import of Capital Goods in a Non-New Condition.

"In the end, the Director General of Daglu, Ministry of Trade, received a letter of response from the Director General of ILMATE, Ministry of Industry, dated January 6, 2023 (it took four months to answer) which stated that the technical considerations for the import plan by PT KCI could not be followed up with the government's focus on increasing domestic production, as well as import substitution through the Domestic Product User Improvement Program (P3DN)," Agus added.