VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government has offcially started applying zero tariffs on Palestinian imported commodities since Thursday, February 28 2019. Indonesian Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita, Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia, Zuhair al Shun and Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir held a meeting with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Vice President's Palace in Jakarta on Thursday related to the start of the tariff elimination. Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita in his statement in Jakarta on Thursday as released by Antara News Agency stated that  in the initial stage, the decision was applied to dates and olive oil. He said that Vice President Jusuf Kalla also emphasized that  "zero tariffs" are applied to other Palestinian commodities without feasibility studies like  general trade agreements with other countries. According to Minister Enggartisto, the application of zero tariffs shows the strong commitment of the Indonesian Government in supporting the strengthening of the social life and capacity of the Palestinian economy and this is expected to increase the competitiveness of Palestinian products. He also explained that the provisions for the elimination of tariffs for the two Palestinian products have been active since February 21, 2019, marked by the sending of a diplomatic note by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Palestine. Thus, the Indonesian people are expected to be able to enjoy Palestinian dates when Ramadan arrives. Minister Enggartiasto Lukita also emphasized that this step is also an important momentum to improve Indonesia-Palestine bilateral trade relations. Meanwhile, Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia, Zuhair Al Shun welcomed the long-awaited decision of the Indonesian government. He also submitted a list of other commodities which are considered potential to be given tariff elimination in Indonesia. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that the total trade between Indonesia and Palestine in 2018 reached US$3.5 million dollars. Palestine is the Indonesia's 164^th export destination. The main export commodities to Palestine include coffee, tea, pasta, bread, perfume and soap. Meanwhile, Palestine is the 162nd source of import for Indonesia, with dates as  the main import commodity.