KUCHING: The Indonesian government should not discriminate against manufacturers in Sarawak wanting to export their products to West Kalimantan.

Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen said discrimination was a serious matter because it would affect relations between the two regions.

“It is not import tariff and also not import duty that are imposed by Indonesia.

“It is plain discrimination towards manufactured goods from Sarawak,” he told a press conference after visiting the premises of Pico Food Industry here yesterday.

He was commenting on the action taken by the Indonesian government to impose a condition for snacks manufactured by Pico Food Industry before they could be exported to West Kalimantan.

Chong said he would be working together with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to settle the issue with the Indonesian government, ‘in line with an agreement between the two countries not to impose import duty on each other’s goods to promote trade’.

He added that the (Indonesian) condition which has gone beyond the agreement, would hamper trade between the neighbouring countries.

The ministry’s Sarawak director Dato Stanley Tan, deputy director Mohd Nawawi Abdul Rahman and Pico Food Industry Sdn Bhd managing director Sim Cho Phong were also present at the press conference.