More than 12,000 textile workers laid off, says API chairman<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Textile Association (API) said on Monday that
\nmore than 12,000 textile workers had been laid off due to a drop
\nin overseas demand triggered by the global economic slump.<\/p>\n
API chairman Benny Soetrisno said that three textile companies
\noperating in Semarang, Central Java, had recently laid off about
\n12,000 workers, while some 800 workers were laid off in Bandung,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
\"I've just received information this morning from Bandung that
\nabout 800 textile workers were laid off,\" Benny told a media
\nbriefing.<\/p>\n
He said the three companies in Semarang had closed down their
\nfactories.<\/p>\n
Benny said the current situation was very difficult for the
\ntextile industries to survive in, and added that if no immediate
\naction was taken, there could be more workers losing their jobs.
\nHe did not elaborate further.<\/p>\n
Textile products are one of the country's main non-oil and gas
\nexports, and the sector absorbs a huge number of workers.<\/p>\n
\"Many textile companies have cut production to about 70
\npercent of their total production capacity compared to an average
\nof 87 percent last year, due to sluggish (export) orders,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Sluggish demand from main textile buyers and the influx of
\nnew cheaper garment and textile products from China since August
\nhave forced local producers to lower production in order to
\nsurvive during this difficult time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indra Ibrahim, the API executive director, said earlier that
\nthe country's 2001 textile exports would decline by 25 percent
\nfrom US$8.2 billion last year due to the economic slowdown in the
\nmain U.S. market.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Madi Rukasah, processing manager of PT Wistex in
\nMajalaya, West Java, said that textile and garment companies
\noperating in the Bandung and Majalaya areas had cut back on their
\nemployees' working hours over the past two weeks to save costs
\namid declining export demand.<\/p>\n
\"Many companies have cut workdays to five days a week from six
\nand shifts to one shift from two and even three shifts a day,\"
\nsaid Madi.<\/p>\n
The U.S., Europe and Japan account for about 45 percent of
\nIndonesia's textile exports, while the so-called \"non-quota
\ncountries\" such as the Middle East, Latin American and African
\ncountries, take the remaining 55 percent.<\/p>",
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