Cambodia may help boost textile exports<\/p>\n
Adianto Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M. Soewandi said on Thursday
\nshe planned to visit Cambodia in May to seek ways of helping
\nimprove Indonesia's textile exports.<\/p>\n
Rini said that Indonesia's textile sector could benefit from
\nCambodia's free access facility into the European textile market.<\/p>\n
\"I will negotiate with the Cambodian government so they (the
\nCambodian textile industry) will buy more fabrics from
\nIndonesia,\" Rini told reporters after opening the International
\nTextile and Apparel Asia Global Sourcing Exhibition and
\nConference in Jakarta on Thursday.<\/p>\n
According to Rini, Cambodian textile producers are allowed to
\nimport raw materials for textiles from ASEAN (Association of
\nSouth East Asian Nations) countries and then export them to the
\nEuropean market.<\/p>\n
Textile products are one of the country's major non-oil and
\ngas exports and employ a total of 1.2 million people.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Textile Association (API) said that the
\ncountry's export revenue from textiles this year would increase
\nto US$8 billion, up from $7.6 billion last year.<\/p>\n
API executive director Indra Ibrahim said that such a
\nprojected rise could only be achieved through aggressive
\nmarketing efforts by local producers with the help of the
\ngovernment<\/p>\n
Indra, who is also the chairman of the exhibition, said that
\nlocal textile producers had been hit by various uncertainties
\nlast year, including the world economic slowdown.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Rini said that amid tougher competition and the
\ntrade liberalization era, particularly with stronger competition
\nfrom China, the government was now focusing on boosting the
\ncompetitiveness of textile producers.<\/p>\n
She, however, urged textile producers to explore multilateral
\ncooperation by forming strategic alliances in order to lessen
\ntheir dependency on Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is Indonesia's largest export destination for textile
\nproducts.<\/p>\n
Some 130 foreign and domestic textile producers are taking
\npart in the exhibition, which is scheduled to last for more than
\n2 days.<\/p>\n
The foreign exhibitors come from India, Cambodia, Malaysia,
\nChina, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Italy.<\/p>\n
Rini has started to institute collaboration with neighboring
\ncountries to help boost Indonesia's export performance.<\/p>\n
The government previously reached an agreement in principle
\nwith Singapore to take advantage of the proposed Free Trade
\nArrangement between Singapore and the U.S.<\/p>\n
The plan would allow IT products made in Indonesia's Bintan
\nIsland to enter the U.S. market via Singapore.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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