JAKARTA,Indonesia- Indonesian government imposed a ban on raw rattan exports in a bid to overcome raw material shortages at home that had exacerbated domestic rattan product industry, a statement issued by the trade ministry said here on Thursday.

"We have shut down raw rattan exports so that the commodity can be fully used by domestic industries," Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said in the statement.

He said such a measure is also aimed at expanding rattan industry to regions across the country, not only in Java that has been the center of the industry as of now.

To facilitate the aim, transfer of technology improvement would be required so as to equal the quality of rattan products produced in Java and in other regions, he said.

Other fundamental reasons of the rattan raw material export ban policy are to maintain the threshold of sustainable rattan and forest resources, improve industrial utilization and export of rattan products as well as to prevent the smuggling of certain types of rattan.

Various policy measures that needed to be taken to minimize the impact of the export ban on raw rattan materials include implementing policies and action plans from various aspects.

From the industrial aspect, it was by ensuring the availability of rattan raw materials for the benefit of domestic industries, minimizing direct impact on the farmers and rattan gatherers.

The policy was intended to make all rattan taken from natural and cultivated forests  be absorbed by domestic industries and prepare a domestic development industries roadmap that is realistic and can be immediately applied.  

According to the data issued by the ministry, 85 percent of the world's rattan consumption is supplied by Indonesia, but domestic utilization remained only 30 percent due to rampant export on raw rattan.