Distinguished exporters win state recognition

Distinguished exporters win state recognition

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday awarded 59
"distinguished exporters", saying that all government
institutions must improve coordinated efforts to support the
growth of Indonesia's exports in the new era of trade
liberalization.

"We must all support the development of exports, to take as
many benefits as possible from the era of free trade in the
region," Soeharto said in a ceremony at the State Palace for the
presentation of the Primaniyarta awards to distinguished
exporters.

A total of 59 small, medium and large companies received
export awards from the President for their achievements in
exporting their products.

The Primaniyarta awards, which are presented once a year, are
contested at both national and provincial levels. Last year, the
President presented the awards to 64 small, medium and large
companies throughout the country.

"Exports should now be one of our main objectives of
development. And all economic-related parties should be
responsible for the country's export promotion," he said.

Soeharto then urged large companies to initiate cooperation
with small and medium companies to help them get better access to
the international market.

He cautioned that commitments for trade and investment
liberalization by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum have prompted all countries in the region to be ready to
compete with their counterparts in the world market.

Leaders of APEC's 18 members agreed in the middle of this
month on the liberalization of trade and investment in the region
by 2010 for developed member economies and by 2020 for developing
members.

"We are now entering a new era, in which all countries have
realized the importance of competition," Soeharto said.

He said that companies now trying to enter the export market
should learn from those which have been successful in the
international market. "The information exchange among large,
medium and small-scale companies is quite essential for export
promotion," he added.

He said that during the period of 1989 to 1993, Indonesia's
exports increased by an average of 13.8 percent per year, during
which its non-oil exports rose by 20 percent per annum.

"Non-oil products now constitute 75 percent of the country's
total exports," he added.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia's
exports during the first seven months of this year increased by
4.48 percent to US$21.92 billion, of which $16.55 billion was
contributed by non-oil products.(fhp)