People told to buy local products
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno called on Indonesians yesterday to love, buy, use and promote locally produced goods and services to enhance economic growth.
"We all have to be proud of and love our own products, which represent Indonesia's identity and high culture," Try said while closing the 1995 Indonesian Product Exhibition at the Jakarta Fairgrounds.
Try said local manufacturers must improve the quality and the competitiveness of their products to be accepted by both domestic and international markets. He added that the products must be environmentally friendly.
"The public is not satisfied with good, low-price products. They now demand practical, efficient, varied and environmentally friendly products," Try said.
Indonesia has greatly improved its goods and services, Try continued. However, he warned, Indonesians must work even harder to beat global competition.
Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo reported at the same ceremony that retail sales at the exhibition reached over Rp 8 billion (US$3.5 million) and export contracts topped $11.2 million.
"This is the largest integrated exhibition in Indonesia," Tunky said. The Indonesian Product Exhibition is held once every five years. The first exhibition was conducted in 1985. The third Indonesian Product Exhibition was opened by President Soeharto on Aug. 12.
Tunky noted that 1,196 participants, ranging from conglomerates to small enterprises, took part.
Many participants at the Small and Medium Enterprises Hall were satisfied with the exhibition and the bonus free stands. However, for small companies that had to pay for their stands, it was a difficult undertaking.
"I had to pay about Rp 8 million for this stand, but I sold less than a half of that amount," said Hasanudin, the marketing manager of PT Unisa Cipta Utama. His company produces jeans under the Pigano and Tropic brands.
Dedy Prijatmoko of CV Niggi in Malang, East Java, which specializes in Onyx arts, said he had benefited from the expo, even though he paid Rp 8 million for a three by four meter stand. "In addition to some profits, I also promoted our products here," he said.
Visitors
Minister Tunky reported that the two-week exhibition had attracted 1.7 million visitors, over 100,000 people a day. Some 1,100 delegation members from 72 countries, including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her entourage, visited the expo.
The stands of large business groups, like the Bakrie, Salim, Napan and Texmaco groups, drew many locals because of their large and attractive displays.
"It's an interesting setting here. We can see our faces in television directly," said a high school student while watching the demonstration of a television camera from the Indosiar stand at the Salim Group's compound in Hall A.
Some visitors complained about the arrangement of the expo. Thach B. Tran, a design engineer at the U.S. manufacturing and sales company Duff-Norton, for instance, left the expo empty handed.
"I have been here since yesterday to look for industrial products. But what is being displayed here is only consumer goods," Tran told The Jakarta Post. "I can't find what I'm looking for."
A buyer from the Czech Republic, who was reluctant to identify himself, said too many Indonesians were loitering around the venue. They made it hard to do business.
Guides at a chemical industry complained about the mosquitoes. "We have worked here everyday for two weeks. There are too many mosquitoes biting our legs," said one woman guide with bare legs. (rid/kod)