Non-oil and gas exports to reach $45b in 2002, says BPEN

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Agency for Export Development (BPEN) said on Tuesday that non-oil and gas exports would increase by 2.5 percent to 3 percent this year, to US$45 billion from $43.4 billion last year.

BPEN chairman Gusmardi Bustami told reporters at his office that the main export destinations for the country's non-oil and gas exports included the U.S., Japan and European countries.

However, he said that if the current floods hitting several parts of the country persisted for longer, the agency might have to readjust the export figure target.

He said that the floods had affected the delivery of raw materials to manufacturing companies.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reported last week that total exports fell by 9.8 percent to US$56.03 billion last year, the largest percentage decline in 12 years due to recessions in the U.S. and other major export markets.

The decline in exports, however, did not cause a serious impact to the economy as domestic consumption remained buoyant and had been the main economic growth engine in 2001.

The government still hopes this year that domestic consumption will become a major contributor to economic growth.

Elsewhere, Gusmardi said that information on international markets and training about product quality were important for the country's exporters to grab export opportunities.

He said that BPEN, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and East Java's administrations would open the first regional training and promotion center in Surabaya by this January.

He hoped that 2,000 people to 3,000 people would be trained in the Surabaya Center every year because there were many small- and medium-scale enterprises in East Java.

Gusmardi added that BPEN would also open some regional training and promotion centers in Surabaya, Medan, Makassar and Banjarmasin.