'Permits that usually take around 14 days to be issued will now only take seven days; those that usually take around five days will be reduced to only three days and so on,' the ministry's special staff in public information division Hadi Mustofa Djuraid said in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Hadi said that the new policy to cut the permit processing times for air, land, rail and sea transportation was signed by Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan on Friday last week through a ministerial decree.

'If we can cut the costs of logistics, we will be able to improve our competitiveness,' he said.

Logistical costs in Indonesia are among the highest in Southeast Asia, representing 20 to 30 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Based on the World Bank's 2014 logistics performance index, Indonesia's logistics performance was ranked 53rd in the world as compared to Singapore, which was ranked fifth, Malaysia, ranked 25th, Thailand, ranked 35th, and Vietnam, which was in 48th place.

The dwelling time for containers at the country's major port Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta has also increased from 4.8 days in October 2010 to eight days in 2013, creating more bottlenecks for Indonesia's exports and imports.

'The processing time for business permits is part of the logistical chain that we have to cut,' he added. (nfo)(++++)

Popular

Iran says won't reopen Hormuz if US upholds naval blockade

Sovereignty concerns loom over new security pact with US

Immigration foils unauthorized haj attempt by 13 pilgrims