Handicraftmakers feel pinch of global slump

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