As of 2014 the government will totally ban raw material exports."Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - The government will ban raw material exports starting next year as part of national strategies to improve the living standard of the local people, an official said.
"As of 2014 the government will totally ban raw material exports. Therefore, foreign companies including Freeport can no longer export raw materials," Purba Robert M Sianipar, assistant deputy for water resource infrastructure to the chief economic minister, said on the sidelines of a workshop here on Wednesday.
The ban is part of the national strategies set forth in the long-term development plan (RPJP) and the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) program, he said.
"The strategy aimed at making maximum use of regional potentials through a number of breakthroughs to improve the living standard of the local people and handle the gap among regions in Indonesia will boost economic growth across the country. So the economic growth will not only be concentrated in Java," he said.
Under the long-term development plan to end in 2025, the government will build two international ports in the western and eastern parts of the country, he said.
"The plan to construct the two international ports in Kuala Tanjung and Bitung has been started. Once they have been completed all foreign ships must pass through the two ports to enter the Indonesian waters," he said.
However, provincial, district and municipal governments have not fully implemented the strategy and plan to develop their regions, he said.
(Reporting by Edy M Ya`kub/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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