REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA -- Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has called for a stop to the import of salt for industries in 2020. To stop the country's dependence on imported salt, the government has prepared 30,000 hectares of land to produce salt in East Nusa Tenggara province, he said.

"In the next two years, we may no longer import salt for industries," he said while delivering his general lecture on "the development of Indonesian maritime industries and services to create the vision of the world's maritime axis" at the University of Pembangunan Nasional (UPN) Veteran here on Friday.

He believed that by employing better technology, the country can meet its domestic salt needs without imports. "We will use better technology to produce better salt with a salt content of 98 percent," he said.

Also read: BPPT has technology to overcome salt scarcity: Minister

The country's coastline of 99,093 kilometers serves as a strong asset to meet domestic salt needs, yet it has not been used optimally, he said. "It has large potential. We have not used it for many years. And now we will use it," he said.

If the domestic salt industry is managed seriously, the country does not need to import salt for industries, he said.

"In fact, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has (technology). So we will use it to produce salt now. Irresponsible people are eager to import salt because they receive feedback," he said.

In January 2018, the government decided to import 3.7 million tons of salt in stages to meet demand from industries.

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