REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesian Minister of Trade, Gita Wirjawan, concerned over cell phone tax plan. The tax, he said, could inflict losses on consumers as nowadays cell phone was considered as an essential product.
"The cell phone tax must be in line with domestic production of cell phone. We still have to develop our cell phone industry," Gita Wirjawan said on Friday.
Wirjawan admitted that proposal on cell phone tax could support industrialization in Indonesia and prevent smuggling.
Ministry of Trade issued a new regulation through Trade Ministerial Decree No. 82/2012 on cell phone importation. The decree regulates the importers as it aims to protect people from imitation phone, tablet, and laptop.
In 2012, Indonesia imported a total of 52,350,970 units of cell phone worth 1.965 billion USD. The figure shows an increase by two percent and increase about 15 percent in units.
