Indonesian vs PNG

[Kaliboo]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/indonesia-...20321.html

It seems that in an effort to extract more value out of its mining industry Indonesia may be well on its way to instead ruin it.  Similar rumblings are increasing by politicians in png lately.  I suppose if things go badly for indo that png pols might back off?  We don't need a 1990s repeat

[admin]

Much of this is likely to be sabre rattling by parties having an interest (one way or another), and the nice things about a market system is that it usually adopts to changing circumstances (of which such a "value added" rule would be one), but it's understandable not everybody is amused.

If I were the Indonesians, wanting to move up the value chain, I would do it gradually, a rising scale in time, something like that, give business time to adapt.

Luckily we have less to fear from this. LNG is already a processed product with lots of added value (the PNG LNG plant coming online next year will more than double the size of the economy in six years, how about that for value added..).

And there is more possible: power plants, chemical plants, fertilizer, etc.

[ArtM72]

As I understand US history putting tariffs on manufactured goods was a means to encourage the development in the post revolutionary era. Whether they worked or not is up to some dispute. But they did finance the US government all the way to the 1st world War. Indonesia needs to take its time.