Improved competitiveness in export products urged
Improved competitiveness in export products urged
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto warned yesterday that
Indonesia could not continue to rely on cheap labor as a
competitive edge for its export products.
"We have no choice but to develop industries which are highly
competitive and reliable. Indonesian-made products must be able
to compete both on the domestic and international markets," he
said in a ceremony to open the 1995 Indonesian Product Exhibition
at the Jakarta Fairgrounds here yesterday.
The government recently announced hikes in the minimum wages
ranging from 10 percent to 35 percent in 19 of the country's 27
provinces.
Since the announcement was made, the Ministry of Manpower has
continued to attempt to persuade companies to comply with the new
wage system.
The ministry also has reprimanded companies which are
reluctant to abide by the new rules, threatening to withhold
their development permits and bank credit.
Currently the minimum daily wage in Jakarta is Rp 4,600
(US$2.1).
The President, who was accompanied by Mrs. Tien Soeharto and
Vice President Try Sutrisno and his wife, said that it was the
duty of the business people and the government to make the
industry competitive, supported by sufficient supplies of raw
material and progressive technology.
Both business people and the government, he said, should
accelerate the development of industries which rely on skilled
labor, high technology and environmentally-sound practices.
The exhibition, which will take place until Aug. 27, involves
1,150 companies and government offices.
Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo in an earlier briefing
with reporters said that the exhibition is located on an area
measuring 30,000 square meters, of which 3,000 square meters is
allocated for small-scale businesses.
The exhibition, expected to attract executives of 350 foreign
companies from 43 countries, is also aimed to boost business
transactions and contacts and, in turn, increase Indonesia's
exports.
Queen Beatrix from the Netherlands is expected to tour the
exhibition during her 10-day visit to Indonesia beginning on Aug.
21. Her entourage will include Dutch Economics Minister G.J.
Wijers and 60 Dutch business people.
According to the chairman of the exhibition's organizing
committee, Sudwikatmono, the display is participated in by 696
private enterprises, nine government ministries, 44 state-owned
firms, 11 provincial and regency-level government offices and two
associations.
The products exhibited include those produced by small-scale
industries, textiles and textile-based items, office appliances
and construction equipment. (pwn)