Finance minister calls for help to fight port mafia

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 12/21/2008 4:08 PM 

 

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani called on local business people on Sunday that they helped her ministry in fighting what she termed as "port mafia".

 

"Currently, I'm fixing our port, including the reform at the customs office. If all of you, gentlemen, find our officers asking for money, please don't pay," Sri Mulyani told members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) on Sunday.

 

She said that Kadin should help the government in rooting out the port mafia to protect domestic industry.

 

"We need to make the port mafia as the enemy of Kadin and the government. Kadin has to help the government because if illegal goods enter the country, they will be in direct competition with you," she said.

 

Earlier, Kadin chairman MS Hidayat suggested that the government protect domestic market by imposing restrictions on imports, especially on products that could be produced domestically.

 

"Strengthening domestic market should be number one priority. All imports whose substitutions could be produced domestically must be restricted or even stopped, of course with regulations," Hidayat said.