Susi made the request when meeting with Japanese businesspeople at the ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday.

She said Indonesian fishery products faced 7 percent import tariffs to enter the Japanese market, even though Japan was not levying any tariffs on Vietnamese or Thai fishery products.

“It is not only for Indonesian business players, but it is also for Japanese companies,” Susi said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the quality of Indonesia’s fishery products were much better than those of the two countries she mentioned.

She added that the quality of Indonesia’s tuna was much better because Indonesia has a larger maritime territory than either Thailand or Vietnam.

Susi believed the removal of tariffs from Indonesian fish products would help improve the business climate in the fishery sector both in Japan and Indonesia and also open more investment opportunities for Japanese companies in Indonesia.

However, Susi said she was not offering anything in exchange for Japan removing the tariffs, except the potential for investment in Indonesia. “The point is that the free tariff would open more business opportunities both in Indonesia and in Japan,” she said.

The meeting between officials of the ministry and Japanese businesspeople, who are part of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), was held to discuss business opportunities in the fishery sector.

“This forum was held to develop business potentials for both Indonesian and Japanese business communities,” Susi said. (bbn)

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