South Lampung, Lampung (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan is targeting zero percent import duty on exports of pineapples and bananas from Indonesia to other countries.
"The pineapple and banana commodity from Lampung Province have dominated the world trade market," he noted here on Wednesday.
However, there are a number of obstacles to commodity trade with various countries, one of which is the import duty rate, which varies in each country, he said.
"For example, if we want to export to Europe, Japan, and South Korea, usually they have their own entry tax. We are working on the application of zero percent import duty on pineapples and bananas," the minister informed.
He said that to expand the application of zero percent import duty on commodity exports, his ministry is also establishing cooperation with several countries.
"We are encouraging cooperation with various countries to eliminate trade taxes on commodities, one of which is pineapples and bananas originating from Lampung to have zero taxes," he added.
According to him, a zero percent import duty could help the local commodity market to expand.
In an effort to expand the zero percent import duty tariff, the government is accelerating the completion of negotiations on the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (IEU CEPA).
Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) of Lampung, the production of pineapples reached 861.7 thousand tons in 2022, an increase from 705.9 thousand tons the previous year. The production center was located in Central Lampung District, which recorded a total production of 859.7 thousand tons in 2022.
Meanwhile, the production of bananas also increased to 1.2 million tons in 2022 from 1.1 million tons in 2021.
The production centers were located in Pesawaran District with a total production of 449.8 thousand tons, South Lampung 512.4 thousand tons, and East Lampung 117.3 thousand tons in 2022.
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