JAKARTA. The government claims that the Bonded Logistics Center (PLB) has received positive responses from businesses. With the PLB, goods inspection is no longer conducted abroad but can be done domestically.

Director General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance, Heru Pambudi, stated that before domestic PLBs existed, importers used PLBs in Singapore and Malaysia with inspection costs around Rp 8 million. Now, with domestic PLBs, inspection costs can be cheaper at only Rp 5 million. "There are cost and time advantages. If goods are in transit, supplier inspections are no longer needed," he said on Wednesday (April 12).

According to Heru, many logistics companies have started eyeing PLBs in Indonesia and closing their Singapore PLBs. This is evident from the increased flow of goods into Indonesian PLBs.

Heru mentioned that since its inauguration last year until March 2017, PLBs have contributed Rp 10.28 billion in import duties, Rp 27.13 billion in Article 22 import income tax, and Rp 120.09 billion in import value-added tax (VAT).

PLBs have also recorded goods worth Rp 1.16 trillion from 20 international supplier companies, 34 international distribution companies, and 97 local distribution companies.

PLBs are favored because their clearance process averages only 1.8 days per year, significantly lower than port clearances which take three to four days.

Heru stated that following President Joko Widodo's instruction, the Customs Directorate General aims to add PLBs across all provinces in Indonesia, especially in eastern regions. "Currently they exist in Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan. Sulawesi and Papua. Eventually all major islands must have logistics centers," he said.

However, it's acknowledged that Indonesia's production costs remain much higher than neighboring countries. Logistics costs in Thailand are only 15%, Malaysia and Vietnam 13%, while Indonesia remains at 26%.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati hopes Indonesia can become Asia Pacific's logistics hub. Therefore, input from businesses and PLB operators is needed to improve Indonesian PLBs' competitiveness to achieve this goal.

Sri Mulyani stated the government needs feedback regarding criteria, business models, services, and supporting infrastructure required for PLBs to become an Asia Pacific hub.

For this reason, the Finance Minister requested PLB operators and managers to hold regular meetings over the next six months to determine actionable recommendations for the government.