RI hopes to double exports to Eastern Europe by 2004

RI hopes to double exports to Eastern Europe by 2004

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government predicts the country's exports to 10 Eastern
European countries to double after their accession to the
European Union (EU) next year.

"Our exports to the 10 Eastern Europe countries were valued at
US$263 million last year. After their accession to the European
Union, we expect the value to double to about $500 million,"
Minister of Trade and Industry, Rini M.S. Soewandi told reporters
following the exporter forum at the 2003 Resource Indonesia (PPE)
expo on Thursday.

The 10 Eastern European countries in question are Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Slovakia and Malta. They will join the EU by May 1,
2004.

With the accession, the 10 countries will follow EU rules and
regulations on finance, banking systems, as well as production
standards.

This is expected to encourage more Indonesian exporters to
enter the Eastern European market.

Rini said, currently, many exporters were reluctant to enter
the market due to concerns over different payment systems and the
lack of connection between Indonesian banks and banks there.

During the forum, Juan Casla, a program manager with the EU
delegation in Indonesia, said it would be easy for Indonesian
exporters to enter the EU market as long as they understood the
EU regulations and product standards.

Also during the forum, Marius Wrzesniewski, commercial
counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Indonesia
said Indonesian exports to Poland last year reached $224 million,
more than twice the $111 million reported by the Indonesian
Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The gap in figures occurred because half of the Indonesian
goods reached Poland through a third country. With the country's
accession to the EU, it is expected Indonesian goods could be
directly delivered to Poland.

Poland is the largest importer of Indonesian goods among the
10 Eastern European countries.

Slovakia is also a promising market for Indonesian goods,
according to the commercial counselor of the Embassy of the
Slovak Republic in Indonesia, Peter Svitek.

He said Indonesian exports to his country grew by 30 percent
each year, reaching $50 million last year.

"This year we estimate Indonesian exports to Slovakia could
reach $70 million," he said, adding Slovakia needed more raw
materials and agricultural products from Indonesia.

Separately, economic and political counselor at the Hungarian
Embassy in Indonesia Andras Hrabovski said Indonesian exports to
his country totaled $150 million last year. They grew by 115
percent in the first seven months this year as compared to the
same period in 2002.

However, BPS data showed Indonesian exports to Slovakia and
Hungary reached $805,000 and $70.17 million in 2002 respectively.

Rini earlier said Indonesia's exports could increase by 7
percent next year, thanks to a higher demand from new markets,
including Eastern Europe, the Middle East and China. Until
recently, Indonesia mostly focused on traditional markets, such
as the United States, Western Europe and Japan.