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.