Riffrag Business & Finance Report

Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil supplier in the world, will continue to invest in oil industry to help efforts to maintain price stability at acceptable levels of producers and consumers.

“Saudi Arabia to continue efforts to achieve stability in the international oil market. Increased investment to boost production and refining capacity,” said Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf in a speech today in front of a business delegation that includes Minister of China.

Saudis began to increase oil production and refining business which cost U.S. $ 100 billion to meet rising demand in Asia. The kingdom is pushing crude oil production capacity to 12.5 million barrels per day in June last year.

China Minister Chen Deming and Al-Assaf said in a news conference in Riyadh yesterday that the two countries plan to increase trade and investment.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the largest chemical producers in the world, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. will start production at a chemical plant in Tianjin in the first quarter I to meet demand in China.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, also held talks with China Petroleum for a stake in the company’s Qingdao refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day in Shandong province, said CEO Khalid Al-Falih in November.

The government insists that the rice and sugar are not included in the commodities included in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) or the Free Trade Agreement of China-ASEAN.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Krisnamurthi in Jakarta on Monday said, rice and sugar is a strategic food commodities for a country that entered the category Special Product (SP) which is allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Therefore, the government will make policies that protect these commodities,” he said.

Alluding to other agricultural commodities, Bayu said, for plantation products do not need to worry because Indonesia is still far superior to China.

Plantation products of Indonesia, he added, even made it into the country such as crude palm oil (CPO), coffee, tea, rubber, and even processed products such as rubber tires and cramps.

In fact, he continued, the balance of Indonesia-China trade in the plantation sector during the last four years shows positive growth which is up from 800 million U.S. dollars to 2.4 billion U.S. dollars.

“Therefore do not really worry about CAFTA could even be a chance of our products into China,” he said.

However, he admitted, for the national horticultural products still need to be improved its competitiveness.

Meanwhile, to make protection against the entry of similar products from other countries, the government will implement a policy of non-tariff barriers with the instrument Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), food security, and biodiversity Kehalalan.

According to the Minister of Agriculture Suswono the CAFTA deal could increase exports specialized in exotic products or that exist only in Indonesia and not in another country.

“Including the plantation product exports such as palm oil seed, cocoa, rubber, is encouraged so that they could buy the optimum,” he said. He suggests, for fruit products like orange have a competitiveness improvement in the country.

“The challenge of this type of goods that must be evaluated whether or not we may increase or dnilai added competitiveness,” he said.

If it is not possible increased competitiveness, he added, it’s better not jump it but sejanis product better diverted to other commodities.

The implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) had been used by several industries in Indonesia to get into China duty to zero percent.

As Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu, including the glass industry in the early influx of Customs FTA is still 25 percent who then fell to only 5 per cent and is expected to be able effectively to zero percent.

“There’s glass producers start FTA time, entrance fees 25 percent, last year was 5 percent. If it’s on schedule this year should be zero percent,” said Minister in the office of the Department of Commerce, Jalan Ridwan Rais, Jakarta, Friday (8 / 1).

Besides the use of import duties, enforcement of this FTA also been exploited for many industries to issue Certificate of origin (SKA) for imported products. However, he was not sure how SKA is already published.

Industries that have been published including CPO SKA, Cocoa, there are some manufactured products, and garments. “Later we’ll make a proper explanation of the numbers right, hopefully there are some exporters who export to China will share her story. I try to plan next week,” he concluded.

The implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) had been used by several industries in Indonesia to get into China duty to zero percent.

As Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu, including the glass industry in the early influx of Customs FTA is still 25 percent who then fell to only 5 per cent and is expected to be able effectively to zero percent.

“There’s glass producers start FTA time, entrance fees 25 percent, last year was 5 percent. If it’s on schedule this year should be zero percent,” said Minister in the office of the Department of Commerce, Jalan Ridwan Rais, Jakarta, Friday (8 / 1).

Besides the use of import duties, enforcement of this FTA also been exploited for many industries to issue Certificate of origin (SKA) for imported products. However, he was not sure how SKA is already published.

Industries that have been published including CPO SKA, Cocoa, there are some manufactured products, and garments. “Later we’ll make a proper explanation of the numbers right, hopefully there are some exporters who export to China will share her story. I try to plan next week,” he concluded.

In the last three years beef offal imports has decreased from the original on the 58.25% in 2006 now live 14.2% of the portion of the national beef imports in 2009.

Director of Veterinary Public Health Directorate General of Livestock Ministry of Agriculture, Turni Rusli Syamsudin, in Jakarta, Saturday (9 / 1), said the decrease was caused since 2007 the government banned the import of some types of offal such as the intestines, tripe and lungs. “Since 2007 the eight types of offal imports initially allowed to stay only two that still allowed the heart and liver,” he said.

Banning the import of these types of offal, he said, was a protest from a number of countries that become exporters of meat into Indonesia namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

In those countries, he said, offal is not consumed and only used as animal feed or as a product of “junk” that sold cheap. “Therefore, through Permentan (Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture) No. 64 Year 2006 and updated with Permentan No. 20 of 2009 we finally allow only imports of two types of offal,” said Turni.

He revealed in 2004 of total imports of beef products as much as 48.3 thousand tons of 36.5 thousand tons or 75.3% of beef offal which is purely only 11.8 thousand tons.

Meanwhile, the share of imports in 2006, although the amount of offal was 36.5 thousand tons, but the percentage decrease of only 58.5% of total imports of meat as much as 62.4 thousand tons, the remainder of 25.9 thousand tons of pure meat. Whereas in 2007 the import of offal only 13.8 thousand tons or 21.6% of the total imports of meat as much as 64.0 thousand tons while 50.2 thousand tons of meat.

In 2009 the portion of imports of meat has increased to reach 64.1 thousand tons of a total of 74.7 thousand tons of imported contrary to the innards stay decreased 14.2% or 10.6 thousand tons.

Meanwhile, imports of meat during the offensive in 2009, Turni said, an increase compared to 2008 which is 74.7 thousand tons from the previous 70.1 thousand tons. As for 2010, the government is targeting meat imports will decrease at least 15% compared to last year.