T

welve companies are set to open new logistics centers (PLB) in various economic sectors that aim to ease goods procurement and reduce dwelling time at ports.

Customs and excise director general Heru Pambudi said the 12 companies were expected to open PLBs as soon as late February, as most of the requirements had been met.

'€œThe logistics centers will make it easier for businesses to procure goods. They will be able to save time and money as well because the goods will be stored domestically,'€ he said recently.

Data from the customs and excise directorate general said that the logistics centers'€™ operational scope ranged from automotive industry support '€” such as the one to be represented by PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) in Karawang, West Java province '€” to personal care and home care industry support, to be represented by PT Agility International in Cikarang, also in West Java.

Oil and gas and mining industries attract the highest number of companies, with four firms.

They are PT Petrosea and PT Pelabuhan Penajam Banua Taka with their centers in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan province, PT Cipta Krida Bahari in Cakung, Jakarta, and PT Dahana in Subang, West Java province.

Ten other companies were in the process of applying for permits to establish the centers, the data said.

Heru previously said that 25 applicants had expressed interest in PLBs, mostly multinational firms.

As previously reported, the government has included the establishment of the logistics centers in its economic policy packages that, as a whole, are expected to improve the business climate and attract foreign investment.

The PLBs are backed by Finance Ministerial Regulation No. 272/PMK.04/2015. The regulation stipulates that goods coming into the centers from outside Indonesia will see their import duty deferred and excise and import tax waived.

'€œWith the PLBs, businesses can examine goods first and only pay off those expenses when they'€™re certain of the quality and take the goods out of the logistics centers.'€

Kukuh Sumardono Basuki, the directorate general'€™s customs facility director, said that dwelling time at seaports could be reduced significantly once the goods were centralized at the PLBs.

Average dwelling time amounted to 5.7 days in December, according to data from the customs and excise directorate general, and the government expects the PLBs to bring the figure down to an average 4.3 days.

Contacted separately, TMMIN vice president director Warih Andang Tjahjono confirmed the company'€™s plan to establish a PLB in Karawang.

He said that it hoped to begin operating the logistics center this year, adding that such a center was needed in the automotive sector.