BANDUNG, TEL-U – The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Industry expressed support for the development of smart card by the Smart Card Consortium Indonesia. According to Director General of Metal, Machinery and Electronic Equipment Transport, the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia, I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan conveyed that smart card market potential in Indonesia is very large, but still rely on imports.
“Today, in the country, smart cards has grown and developed. The Ministry of Industry has noted that there are seven industrial smart card that utilizes the domestic market and exports to target markets include government, banking, travel and entertainment, and markets telecom operators, “he said in a speech read by the Director of Industrial Electronics and Informatics, Achmad Rodjih Almanshoer in ITB Hall , Bandung, Tuesday (25/10).
Suryawirawan added, one of the main problems in the development of the smart card industry is disharmony fare. Based on the Indonesian Customs Tariff Book (BKTI) in 2012, tariffs finished product smart card is 0 percent, while raw materials for the manufacturing tariffs as high as 5-10 percent.
According to him, to overcome these problems and to make the product a smart card has competitiveness in their own country, the government through the Ministry of Industry together with the Ministry of Finance issued a policy by delivering incentives in fiscal form government borne import duties in hopes of reducing the cost of production, which in turn could help improve the competitiveness of the smart card industry in the country.
“In addition, the Ministry of Industry will also arrange the Foreign Policy Component Level Smart Card, which is generally divided into two parts, raw materials and services for smart cards DCL currently still very small,” he said.
It is expected he added, DCL penetrates deeper into hardware smartcard chip, chip design and the industry well. “It is hoped BMDTP policies and DCL will give a presumption in favor of the smart card industry in the country so that the smart card industry can grow and develop and promote national economic growth,” he said.
Indonesia Smart Card Consortium of four universities and five companies. Fourth colleges it is Telkom University (Tel-U), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), University of Indonesia (UI), and the University of Hasanuddin (UNHAS). While the five companies involved, namely PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Inti), PT Xirka Silicon Technology, PT Data Aksara Matra (PT DAM), PT Inti Bangun Sejahtera (IBS), and PT Versatile.
The consortium is supported by the National Research Council (DRN) and get funding from the Ministry of Research and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti). (PR / raf)