Handicraftmakers feel pinch of global slump

Local handicraft and furnituremakers are facing increasing order cancellations from foreign buyers amid the global economic slump, an executive from the handicraft association said on Wednesday.

"At least 10 percent of importers have asked their Indonesian counterparts to delay shipment of their orders," the executive director of the Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicraft Association (Asmindo) Sae Tanangga 'Angga' Karim told The Jakarta Post.

Angga said cancellations had not only come from the United States, but also from European countries, such as Germany and Denmark.

Furniture and handicraft export volume reached US$1.4 billion in 2000.

But Angga said furniture and handicraft exports had fallen by at least 15.5 percent in the first six months of 2001 compared to the same period last year as the world faced an economic slowdown.

"The terrorist attacks on Washington and New York have dealt a big blow to the country's furniture and handicraft exports," he said.

The U.S. is one of the main markets for Indonesia's furniture and handicrafts aside from Japan and some European countries.

He said Asmindo members had reported no new orders after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Asmindo has 600 members throughout Indonesia.

"With the terrorist attacks in the United States, which were followed by growing opposition to U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan by Muslim-dominated countries, Indonesia's furniture exports will not recover in the next six months," he said. -- JP