Luhut blasts firms over raw material

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Panjaitan strongly criticized businessmen who failed to use local raw material for their exported products.

Speaking at the Textile Institute here on Friday, Luhut said he questioned the nationalism of such businessmen.

"Using local raw material would create job opportunities for local people," he said, reiterating calls for the promotion of local material and local products.

"We are studying the quality of local raw materials. If they are found to have the same quality as those that are imported, then there is no reason why they shouldn't be used instead."

He didn't mention the names of the companies using imported materials for their products.

The head of West Java's office of the ministry of industry and trade, Deddy Gurnadi, said in his report to the minister that the province's export revenue in the first three months of this year dropped by 10.17 percent.

"We enjoyed a total of US$57.28 million in non-oil export revenue from January to March of last year, thanks to the sale of two CN 235 aircraft produced by the state-owned aircraft maker IPTN," Deddy said.

Almost 70 percent of the province's non-oil products were textile and textile products, followed by paper, steel, shoes, electronic goods, furniture, tea, cut timber and processed wood and sportswear.

Despite the drop in the whole export value, the number of some commodities, including aircraft components, has increased, he said.

The price of textile and textile products in U.S. markets increased from $7.5 per unit in 1999 to $10.3 per unit this year, while European, Norwegian and Canadian markets were still weak.

Deddy said that most Indonesian businessmen were lacking capital.

"Additional capital is badly needed for export-oriented industries." (25/sur)