Thailand
Indonesia: Govt Has No Option But to Import Salt: Minister
TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru – Minister Darmin Nasution said that the government has no option but to import salt following the lack of supply on the domestic market.
“We have no choice, it’s already been done, the stocks of salt are lacking,” the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin said yesterday, July 31, in Pekanbaru.
He said that salt import is the last resort to meet domestic demands due to high prices on the market. “We have to import [salt],” he said.
Darmin said that Indonesia should not have experienced the lack of salt supply. He said that lessons can be learned from this case to provide more attention to salt farmers in the future.
“We have to personally meet the farmers; maybe the infrastructures are lacking,” he said.
The government will be importing salt from Australia, the nearest salt producer in the region.
Earlier, the government has decided to import 75,000 tons of consumption salt that will arrive on August 10. Director General of Foreign Trade of the Trade Ministry Oke Nurwan said that the decision is made to address the urgent situation.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/08/01/056896000/Govt-Has-No-Option-But-to-Import-Salt-Minister