VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government on Thursday, February 28, officially imposed zero tariffs on Palestinian imported commodities. Indonesian Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita, Palestinian Ambassador in Jakarta, Zuhair al Shun and Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, A.M. Fachir, held a meeting with the Indonesian Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, at the Vice Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday regarding the start of the tariff abolition. In the initial stages, the implementation of the decision was applied to commodities of dates and olive oil which are planned to be exported before the Ramadan fasting month this year. In his press statement, Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita, said Vice President Jusuf Kalla also stressed that "zero tariffs" will also be applied to other Palestinian commodities and without feasibility studies like trade other agreements in general with other countries.

“We are friends, we are brothers, so we are not talking about profit or not profit. Even the Vice-President re-emphasized that he would oder to apply zero tariff for any commodities Palestine wants to export to Indonesia,” said Enggartiasto Lukita.

Meanwhile the Palestinian Ambassador in Jakarta, Zuhair Al Shun, welcomed the long-awaited decision of the Indonesian government. He has also submitted a list of other commodities which are considered potential to be given zero tariff in Indonesia. The Ministry of Trade noted that so far the volume of trade between Indonesia and Palestine had only reached 3.5 million US dollars. Palestine is the 164th Indonesia's 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. (VOI/RETNO/AHM)