Exporters told to find distributors

Exporters told to find distributors

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday awarded 65 distinguished exporters while encouraging companies to expand their businesses overseas and deal with foreign enterprises to facilitate the distribution of the country's non-oil exports.

"Competition in international trade is getting sharper and the open market offers equal opportunities to any nation in the world. Domestic businessmen, therefore, should really consider investing abroad and cooperating with executives in foreign countries," the President said at the annual Primaniyarta export awards presentation at the State Palace here yesterday.

The President awarded 65 firms for their achievements in exporting their products yesterday.

The Primaniyarta awards, which are presented once a year to the nation's best performing exporters, are contested at both the national and provincial levels. Last year, the President presented the awards to 59 small, medium and large-scale companies throughout the country.

Challenges

Soeharto said that in the ongoing 25-year long-term development period, which started last year, Indonesia is facing more challenges to increase non-oil exports.

"The world moves faster towards open economy and free trade. In the fiercer competition, our non-oil exports have increased, but the growth rate declined," he said.

"The growth rate of non-oil exports steadily declined from 27 percent in 1992 to 16 percent in 1993 and to 12 percent in 1994. The drops were caused by competition, not by slowing international demands," President Soeharto said.

He added that the growth rate increased to 14 percent in the January-August period of this year.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia's total exports during the first seven months of this year increased by 14.12 percent to US$25.01 billion, of which $18.92 billion was contributed by non-oil products.

"In the future, there's no other way than increasing non-oil exports because non-oil products are now one of the country's major economic arms. Increasing non-oil exports will help facilitate the country's development," Soeharto said.

He said that all of the ministries, related government institutions and local administrations should work together to promote non-oil exports.

"I'd like to repeat the request I made a few years ago -- make all-out efforts to increase non-oil exports. We have to strengthen the international competitiveness of our products," he said.

Minister of Trade Satrio B. Joedono said yesterday that businessmen should not be reluctant to report to the authorities if they are charged illegal levies which burden their businesses.

"Please, file reports to my office. Such reports will be reviewed," he said.

Businesspeople have repeatedly complained that the exporting process involves arduous bureaucratic procedures, including those for customs clearance and port handling, while land transportation of goods is subject to illegal levies charged by various parties. (icn)