DENPASAR (Antara): Bali’s foreign exchange from exports of various handicraft products in the first semester of 2007 reached US$118.4 million or increased by 14.3 percent compared to US$103.5 million in the same period of 2006, a local official has said.
Wooden art products and furniture still dominated Bali’s export commodities, head of the foreign trade section of the provincial industry and trade office, Ni Wayan Kusumawathi, said Thursday.
In the first semester of 2007, the province’s wooden household utensils and furniture obtained US$68.6 million, a drastic increase compared to the value in the same period in 2006 when it was recorded at US$56 million, she said.
She said further Bali’s art products were in great demand on foreign markets especially the European Union, the United States, Japan and other Asian countries.
Kusumawathi pointed out that the big amount of foreign exchange was obtained from the exports of 17 product categories including silver works, wooden statues, ceramics, bamboo handicraft and paintings which were sent to 79 countries.
She said wooden toys and wooden handicraft products alone grabbed US$48.1 million in the January-June 2007 period, an increase of 30 percent compared to US$36.9 million in the same period in 2006.
The furniture products like antique tables, chairs and cupboards in the first six months of 2007 contributed US$20.5 million or increased by 5.7 percent compared to US$19.4 million in the same period of the previous year.
The silver jewelries like rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings gained US$12.8 million in the first semester of this year or rose by two percent compared to US$12.5 million in the same period of the previous year, she said.
The export value of metal handicraft products in the January-June 2007 period was recorded at US$5.3 million, or up by 8.5 percent compared to US$4.8 million in the same period of 2006.
However, the export value of bamboo handicraft products in the first semester of 2007 dropped by 26 percent from US$5.6 million to only US$4.1 million and that of sea shell handicraft decreased by 26 percent from US$1.6 million to US$1.2 million. (**)
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