MINISTER INSPECTS TANJUNG PRIOK PORT'S READINESS FOR ACFTA

Jakarta, Jan 17 (ANTARA) - Industry Minister MS Hidayat inspected the readiness of Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port on Saturday with regard to the implementation of the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement as of January 1, 2010.

"I wished to see the impelementation of the program to overcome non-tariff barriers," he said at the customs office.

He said he wanted to make sure that anticipatory measures had been taken with regard to obstacles in connection with the implementation of the ACFTA.

He said if the anticipatory program had been implemented well it would help strengthening the industrial sector in the country.

"The most important factor for the industrial sector is mechanism in the port," he said.

MS Hidayat was received by the director general of customs, Thomas Sugijata and the president director of Pelindo II, Richard Jose Lino.

Indonesia signed the ACFTA for implementation as of January 1, 2010 after signing a similar agreement with Japan before.

With the agreements manufacturing and agricultural products from Indonesia could enter the partners' markets without tariff barriers.

However with them the country's domestic market could also be flooded by products from China and Japan if the domestic industries could not compete.

An economist from state University of Indonesia, Ninasapti Triaswati, said the ACFTA would not benefit all industrial sectors in the country.

"For some manufacturing indutries such as garment and footwear industries the implementation of the free trade agreement would even threaten continuity," she said.

She said the onslaught of products from China could threaten local products. Therefore, she urged the government to protect the continuity of local industries by postponing the implementation of the free market agreement for several industries pending their readiness for it.