Indonesia plans to develop new economic zones

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Budiono said Friday the government will develop new economic zones in the regions which have huge potentials and economic fundamentals.

"There will be certain rules in the zones that may attract investors to do business, including taxation, import duty and licensing facilities," Antara news agency quoted him as saying.

The government would fix the borders of the zones, he said, adding investment to develop the zones would originate from the private sector.

He said a team of economic ministers had been set up to assess whether or not areas could be declared as new economic zones. By doing so, economic zones would be found not only in Batam but also in Java.

Earlier, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government was developing nine free trade zones to promote industries and attract investments.

"We are developing nine free trade zones, namely in Batam, Bintan, Aceh, North Sumatra, Banten, East Java, West Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi," Jusuf Kalla said in dialogs with Malaysian entrepreneurs on Thursday.

However, he added, that the free trade zones were particularly designed to develop manufacturing industries which need large quantities of imported raw materials.

Source: Xinhua