"There is currently no facility for imports of agricultural machinery...we need to include the agriculture sector as a sector that receives facility," he noted in Jakarta on Saturday.
Tanjung explained that the plan for import duty exemptions is also aimed at advancing investment projects in the agriculture sector, such as the one that is currently running in Merauke, South Papua.
A sugarcane plantation is being developed in the district, which will be integrated with the sugar industry, bioethanol industry, and power plants.
He explained that investment in sugar cane plantation and the sugar industry in Merauke is currently in the development stage, and has entered cluster three of the sugar cane land, which spans a total area of 2 million hectares
Thus, the exemption of import duties on machinery is expected to support Indonesia's food self-sufficiency and make the project a success.
"In this cluster, three sugar industry development, five factories are planned to be built, and they are (going to be) integrated with bioethanol (industry)," Tanjung said.
The total planned investment in cluster three of the integrated sugar plantation is US$5.62 billion.
The investment consists of Rp29.2 trillion (around US$1.80 billion) for sugar cane plantation with agricultural mechanization technology and Rp53.8 trillion (around US$3.31 billion) for the construction of five sugar and bioethanol factories.
It also includes Rp120 billion (around US$7.40 million) for the construction of a human resource training center and Rp150 billion (around US$9.25 million) per year for the construction of research and innovation facilities.
There are four clusters in the integrated plantation land: around 1 million hectares for clusters one and two, around 504,373 hectares for cluster three, and around 400 thousand hectares for cluster four.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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