RI firms secure US$11.3m in orders at trade fairs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Small and medium-scale Indonesian firms have secured orders worth a total of US$11.28 million in recent trade fairs in Germany and Japan, according to the National Export Development Board (BPEN).

The agency said in a statement on Thursday that Indonesian firms participating in the Berlin Import Shop Fair held from Nov. 7 to Nov. 11 secured orders worth $9.06 million for clothes and furniture for next year.

The firms participating in the Japan Home Show held from Oct. 3 to Nov. 2 in Tokyo had secured orders worth $2.22 million for marble and wood products, the agency said.

The agency said Indonesia had sent 36 firms, including furniture, garment, jewelry producers.

The Berlin fair drew 543 participants from 64 countries and a total of 37,022 visitors.

Germany is Indonesia's second largest export market in Europe after the Netherlands.

Indonesian exports to Germany totaled $1.4 billion last year and had reached $692.7 million in the first half of this year, the agency said.

The Tokyo fair drew 384 participants from various countries and around 20,000 visitors per day.

Indonesia sent four participants: Surabaya-based marble producer PT Dwi Tunggal Marmerindah, Jakarta-based sanitary products manufacturer PT Halmar Sanitary and Jakarta-based wood product makers PT Haritas Adilia Waskita and PT Rimba Kencana.

The companies, together with firms from other member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), took spaces in the area provided by a Japanese agency called ASEAN- Japan Center, which aims to promote trade relations between Japan and ASEAN countries.

The selection of participants for the fair was also conducted by the ASEAN-Japan Center, BPEN said.