Export exhibition draws 3,000 foreign buyers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri officially opened on Wednesday a five-day export products exhibition at the Jakarta Fairground complex in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The 19th annual trade expo organized by the National Agency for Export Development (BPEN) is participated by some 1,254 companies, drawing at least 3,000 foreign buyers from 65 countries.

"We expect sales transactions during the expo to increase by 10 percent from last year of US$95.6 million," BPEN head Diah Maulida said.

Products displayed in the exhibition include textile and garments, footwear products, chemical products, automotive components, electronics, cosmetics, food products, furniture, handicrafts, agriculture products and mining commodities.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini MS Soewandi said that the high number of foreign buyers attending the expo showed how the country's products have quality and price competitiveness in the export market.

"The current expo is aimed not only to promote the country's top quality export products, but also to rebuild Indonesia's image in international forum," Rini said.

The country needs to boost exports in a bid to help accelerate economic growth to more than 6 percent per year, which analysts have said was necessary to help resolve the pressing unemployment problem here. The economy has grown by around 4 percent per annum during the past few years, mainly driven by domestic consumption due to weak performances in exports and investment.

The government has targeted non-oil and gas export this year to grow by 7 percent from more than US$47 billion last year.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported earlier this month that non-oil and gas exports continued to register positive growth of 3.42 percent to $4.60 billion in August from July and also revealed that exports in some key manufacturing commodities have declined to the main U.S. market.

Analysts have said that the country's export performance has been weak due to the high-cost of doing business here amid corruption and red tape. There has been high hopes that the incoming new government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would launch serious measures to resolve this problem.

Economist Mari Pangestu of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said during a recent seminar that the country's export had only grown by an average of 3 percent per year since the start of the late 1997 financial crisis, much lower than the average 17 percent registered during the 1990-1996 period.

BPS said that export in January to August period increased by 5.75 percent to $43.09 billion from the same period last year. But this was largely due to soaring oil prices. The agency did not provide cumulative figure for non-oil and gas export.

Elsewhere, Rini said that this year's export exhibition would also hold a special forum for local manufacturers to obtain information on opportunities in various markets, and export strategy.