Export exhibition draws 3,000 foreign buyers

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.