Indonesia fully committed to ASEAN single market:

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Cebu, the Philippines

Indonesia is ready to reduce non-tariff barriers and cut other forms of trade barriers in support of the full integration of ASEAN economies by 2015, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Friday.

"We have cut tariffs significantly. Now we want to reduce non-tariff barriers that hamper export and import activities. We want Indonesia to be ready for a free flow of good and services by 2015," Pangestu said on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cebu, the Philippines.

The Indonesian government, Mari said, already introduced a single-window customs system in Batam last year.

This custom system aims to simplify export and import procedures, which used to involve going to 35 separate government agencies, into a unified procedure involving only one or two agencies.

"Our target for this year is to apply a single-window system for Tanjung Priok Port (in Jakarta). This is very crucial because 60 percent of our trade is conducted through this port. However, it will not be an easy task as we must set up the electronic infrastructure to support the system. At least the three key agencies -- customs, trade and transportation -- should be harmonized within the system," she said.

By 2008, Mari said, the single-window system should have been fully implemented at Tanjung Priok Port.

Last December, the 10 member states of ASEAN signed four agreements to speed up economic integration. The first agreement was the protocol to the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Integration of Priority Sectors. Member countries agreed to eliminate tariffs on 3,523 product lines by Jan. 1 of this year.

With the agreements, some 80 percent of total products in the region have been exempt from all tariffs since Jan. 1, while tariffs are scheduled to be lifted on the remaining 20 percent of products by 2010.

Despite the success in the elimination of tariffs, some critics have said that ASEAN is not moving fast enough to eliminate non-tariff barriers, including customs procedures, standards and conformity.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into ASEAN during the first quarter of 2006 soared by nearly 90 percent to US$7 billion compared to the same period last year. It rose by 48 percent to $34 billion in 2005, with the manufacturing sector being the top FDI recipient.

Indonesia attracted some $6 billion of last year's FDI inflow into the region, coming a poor second to Singapore's $20 billion.

"We have established a blueprint to achieve all of our targets. We have divided businesses into four sectors, and each will have priority sectors to be taken care of. We also have four periods for achieving the targets," Mari said, without providing more detail on these sectors or periods.