"They have also asked us to give a cut on royalties and taxes for the exporters."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Japan has asked Indonesia to supply 2.2 million sheets of plywood for five months until September for post-tusnami rehabilitation and reconstruction purposes.

To transport the plywood, Japan also hoped the Indonesian government could give a special shipment price , the forestry ministry`s secretary general, Hadi Daryanto, said here on Friday.

Besides that, he said, Japan also hoped Indonesia could give tax exemption on export of products such as plywood, sawnwood, laminated wood and other processed wooden products that they would need.

"They have also asked us to give a cut on royalties and taxes for the exporters," he said.

Japan had made the request because it was having difficulty meeting its people`s need for building materials as its own building materials industries had been affected by the tsunami.

Indonesia had so far been the second biggest exporter of plywood to Japan after Malaysia. Another major exporting country to Japan is China.

In 2010, Hadi said, Japan`s imports of plywood from Indonesia reached 931,961 meter cubic comprising 28.61 percent market share.

"The value of the imports reached US$555.98 million or 32.50 percent of Japan`s total plywood imports," he said.

The volume of Indonesia`s plywood exports to Japan in January 2011 reached 92,994 cubic meter.

Indonesia`s exports of plywood to Japan from 2006 to 2010 fluctuated. In 2006 they reached US$866.21 million and then dropped to US$719.26 million in 2007, US$558.84 million in 2008 and US$453.63 million in 2009. Last year they reached US$558.98 million.

Considering that Japan is one of the country`s trade partners in forestry products and the main donor to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) Indonesia wold consider to give that country special service as expected by them, Hadi said.

Basically, he said, "we are ready to facilitate communications with the Japanese forestry ministry and Japan`s association of plywood importers.

He said however that the ministry of forestry still had yet to coordinate it with the ministry of trade and the ministry of finance because they are the ones that have the authority to give tax exemption.
(T.A027/H-YH/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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