Inadequate banking ties 'inhibit countertrade'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Developing countries faced difficulties in
\nconducting countertrade due to the lack of direct banking
\nrelationships between them, the chairman of the Tirtamas Group,
\nHashim Djojohadikusumo, said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Hashim said at the Asia Pacific Countertrade Association
\nconference that countertrade could provide a solution to many
\ndeveloping countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America
\nand Eastern Europe, which had limited foreign exchange to conduct
\nconventional trade.<\/p>\n
But the absence of banking networks between those countries
\nhad made it difficult for companies to conduct direct trading as
\nwell as to find information about each other's creditworthiness.<\/p>\n
\"They (banks of developing countries) often represent a
\nsignificant concentration in advanced economies, so when it comes
\nto finding out about a company or bank in, say, Tanzania or
\nUkraine, an absence of direct links makes this very difficult,\"
\nsaid Hashim, who is also chairman of the conference.<\/p>\n
The three-day conference, which will end tomorrow, has drawn
\n175 participants from 24 countries, including Iran, Germany,
\nCroatia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the United States,
\nAustralia and Finland.<\/p>\n
Hashim said another obstacle to direct trade between
\ndeveloping countries was control by multinational banks over
\ntrading in developing countries.<\/p>\n
He said British and French banks controlled trading in Africa,
\nwhile U.S. banks controlled banking networks in Central and South
\nAmerica, and Austrian and German banks in Eastern Europe and the
\nCIS.<\/p>\n
Those banks had gained control in those areas after they had
\nestablished networks during colonial times.<\/p>\n
\"We tried to buy cotton from certain Francophone countries of
\nWest Africa, only to be told to approach trading houses in Paris.
\nWe tried to sell medical and pharmaceutical goods in Central
\nAsia, only to be informed that we had to deal with a trading
\ncompany in Germany,\" said Hashim, who has a countertrade company
\ncalled Tirtamas Comexindo.<\/p>\n
Bank Indonesia Governor Soedradjad Djiwandono said at the
\nconference that the central bank had helped solve the problem by
\nmaking banking arrangements with other central banks,
\nparticularly in countries that were nontraditional trading
\npartners.<\/p>\n
Arrangements had been made with the central banks in 13
\ncountries, including Iran, Russia, the Czech Republic,
\nUzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Bulgaria,
\nRumania, Hungary, Slovakia, Pakistan and Argentina, said
\nSoedradjad, in his speech delivered by the head of monetary
\nmanagement department, C. Harinowo.<\/p>\n
Indonesia initiated a countertrade policy in 1982 to boost
\nexports in a bid to cope with the sharp drop in oil prices.<\/p>\n
Official data showed that Indonesia's non-oil exports under
\ncountertrade agreements surged to US$1.2 billion in 1995 from a
\nmere $140 million in 1982. But it was still small compared to
\noverall non-oil exports of $34.95 billion in 1995. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/inadequate-banking-ties-inhibit-countertrade-1447893297",
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