Teten Proposes Imported Goods To Anchor At Sorong Port To Protect MSME Products

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki (Photo: Doc. Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop UKM) proposed to related parties that imported products entering be anchored or sent through the most distant port in Indonesia such as in Sorong, West Papua. So, the price can be competitive with local products.

"(The import products) are anchored in Sorong, so later it will need costs to enter the big markets in Java and Sumatra. That way, our MSMEs (products) can still be competitive," said Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki at the Kemenkop UKM Building, Jakarta, Monday, August 14.

Menteri Teten mengatakan, usulan tersebut telah disampaikan kepada Menteri Perdagangan (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan. Menurut Teten, upaya menyelamatkan daya saing UMKM tersebut pun sejalan dengan tol laut yang juga menjadi proyek Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi) yang bisa menjadi jalan.

"So far, the cargo is only made of goods, so logistics costs are always charged for products sold in Eastern Indonesia, so that Eastern Indonesia is weak," he said.

He assessed that through the use of eastern Indonesia as an import hub, it could also make the price of goods more even and there would be no greater inequality between goods in West and East Indonesia.

Teten also asked e-commerce players to comply with the rules in force in Indonesia, especially regarding electronic trade policies that are being discussed by the government. He emphasized that the government is trying to protect local products from the invasion of foreign products.

"This (electronic trade policy) is very urgent to be revised, so that we can protect MSMEs that cannot compete with Chinese products that enter through e-commerce crossborders that are still not regulated," he said.

According to Teten, the revision of the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 50 of 2020 is not only related to electronic trading, but must also be able to create the same playing field, equal treatment regarding tariffs, and entry fees.

Therefore, in addition to proposing the farthest port for imported products, the Kemenkop UKM also proposes additional import duty policies for finished products from outside that have the potential to erode the presence of MSME products.

"Earlier I saw that the price on one of the platforms doesn't make sense. This name already has predatory pricing. That's because our market is too loose, so their goods can enter here at a price as cheap as possible," he added.