Fajarasia.co – Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) Suhanto said that his party supports and respects the ongoing legal process in cases of alleged corruption in licensing imports of iron or steel, alloy steel, and their derivative products set by the Attorney General’s Office for 2016-2021.
This statement was made following the appointment of an employee at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade by the Attorney General’s Office as a suspect, Thursday (19/5).
“Obviously we are very concerned about the current situation. However, the Ministry of Trade supports the ongoing legal process and is ready to always provide information needed in the law enforcement process,” said Suhanto in a press release received on Sunday (22/5/2022).
Suhanto again emphasized what the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Lutfi has always emphasized, that the ranks of the Ministry of Trade are obliged to carry out licensing services in the trade sector according to the provisions and in a transparent manner.
For this reason, the Ministry of Trade supports the legal process if it is proven that an abuse of authority has occurred.
According to Suhanto, the Minister of Trade has emphasized that the anti-corruption stance must be implemented by all employees in all units of the Ministry of Trade.
“As always ordered by the Minister of Trade, we always instruct the employees of the Ministry of Trade to always work according to the provisions and in a transparent manner. The Ministry of Trade is always ready to assist the ongoing law enforcement process, because acts of corruption and abuse of authority cause state losses and have an impact on the national economy and harm the community,” said Suhanto.
Suhanto ensured that licensing in the trade sector had been carried out through an electronic system.
The digitization of permits is intended to speed up services and at the same time avoid meetings with business actors. This system can prevent corruption.
“One of the goals of digitizing permits is to prevent corruption in the licensing process. The Ministry of Trade is very serious about building an anti-corruption system,” he said.
In addition, the Ministry of Trade appealed to business actors to also participate in supporting the Ministry of Trade’s efforts to properly implement this system.
Previously, the Attorney General’s Office assigned an employee of the Ministry of Trade with the initials TB as Head of Sub-Division for Administration for the 2017-2018 period and as Head of Miscellaneous Industries for the 2018-2020 period at the Directorate of Imports, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, as a suspect in connection with the steel import case.****
