Banking snags curb Indonesia's exports to E. Europe
Banking snags curb Indonesia's exports to E. Europe
JAKARTA (JP): An absence of banking relations between
Indonesia and Rumania is hampering the country's businesspeople
from tapping the potential of emerging markets in eastern Europe,
a businessman said on Wednesday.
Director Sebastian Tanamas of Tanamas Industry & Co., a firm
which exports handicraft and rattan furniture to Rumania, said at
a seminar that although the eastern European market was
promising, non-existent banking relations created difficulties
with payments.
Citing an example, he said that Rumanian importers paid from
20 percent to 30 percent of their transaction values up front,
and settled the remainder only after goods were delivered.
"This kind of deal can land you in trouble. I have been
deceived (in the past)," Tanamas said at the seminar on
opportunities in eastern Europe and South African markets.
Rumanian Consul for Economic and Trade Affairs Niculae Dinu-
lonita told the seminar that Indonesian shoes, textiles and
garments were competitively priced for eastern European markets.
He said Rumania, as a gateway to eastern Europe, offered tax
and tariff incentives to foreign investors establishing
businesses in the country.
Indonesia's Director General for International Trade and
Industry Cooperation Hatanto Reksodipoetro said that many
exporters were unaware of business opportunities in eastern
Europe.
"It seems that our businesses are preoccupied with traditional
markets, such as the United States and western Europe," Hatanto
said.
He said Indonesia's exports to eastern Europe in 1998 totaled
US$458 million, an increase of 28.26 percent from 1997, but that
the amount represented only 0.94 percent of the country's total
exports.
Hatanto added that Indonesian exports to South Africa
increased 21.02 percent to $157.3 million in 1998, from $130
million in 1997.
Indonesian exports to South Africa comprise textiles,
footwear, plastics and rubber, pulp and paper and vegetable
products. (01)