REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi hopes that Indonesia will sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) before the end of 2013.

"The government can sign the FCTC with a law, a government regulation or through a presidential regulation. It is possible for the government to accede to the convention with a presidential regulation, but probably it cannot do it in the near future through a law because time is running short, while it should be endorsed by the House of Representatives (DPR)," the minister said here on Friday.

The minister noted that she had made requests about signing the convention to two coordinating ministers, asking that a meeting be scheduled to discuss the issue.

"I have made verbal requests to two coordinating ministers, but both of them are busy. I hope in the next one or two weeks that the matter will be discussed," Minister Mboi said.