TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPurbaya floats, then downplays Malacca Strait levy idea
The Foreign Ministry has issued a counterstatement emphasizing Indonesia's adherence to international law in all maritime policies after the finance minister's backtracked suggestion referring to Iran's transit levy in the Strait of Hormuz.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Tankers and other large vessels are anchored in the Strait of Malacca near the Port of Singapore on Sept. 21, 2021. (AFP/Roslan Rahman )
T
he finance minister has immediately downplayed an idea he floated on imposing a transit fee on ships in the Strait of Malacca, citing legal, geopolitical and practical constraints.
“We are [locating] on a strategic global trade and energy route, but we do not charge ships passing through the Strait of Malacca,” Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said on Wednesday in his speech at a financial symposium in Jakarta.
“If we split [the levy] three ways between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that could be quite something, right?” the minister said with a laugh, before adding “If only it could be like that, but that’s not the case.”
He backtracked on the idea shortly after suggesting that Jakarta could take cues from Tehran’s move to levy fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. He added that while Indonesia was situated along the critical waterway for global trade and energy flows, turning it into a source of state revenue was neither straightforward nor necessarily appropriate.
In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said all government policies regarding maritime shipping lanes, including those in the Strait of Malacca, would adhere to international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“The stability and security of global shipping routes will remain Indonesia’s priority as a coastal state, given that the Strait of Malacca is one of the most strategic sea-lanes for global trade and supply chains,” Yvonne said in a statement on Thursday.
“Indonesia will continue to promote a measured approach based on international law, while maintaining coordination with relevant countries to safeguard regional stability and to ensure that global shipping lanes remain safe, open and stable.”
