Rini says exports to grow by 5 percent next year
Rini says exports to grow by 5 percent next year
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M. Soewandi said on Friday
that Indonesia's export earnings are projected to grow by 5
percent next year on the back of better prices for the country's
main export commodities.
She estimated that this year's export earnings would reach
US$45 billion, a 3.5 percent rise from $43.6 billion in 2001.
"The 5 percent growth target should not be too hard to meet
because demand is expected to rise in line with the recovery in
the global economy," said Rini.
She said that the target was realistic despite the lingering
security problems at home.
Rini said that the improvement in the global economy would
help lift the prices of the country's major exports, such as
textiles, electronics, footwear and timber-based products.
But the government's optimism is not shared by some exporters,
who predict that exports next year will be slow due a to a host
of problems here including labor disputes, security problems,
rising production costs and difficulties with local autonomy.
These problems have discouraged foreign buyers who fear that
Indonesia's exporters will not be able to deliver on time. Many
foreign buyers have already started seeking alternative suppliers
in other countries.
Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo) chairman Anton
Supit said that footwear exports would decline to below $1
billion next year from this year's estimate of $1.3 billion.
A similar view was also voiced by the chairman of the
Indonesian Furniture Club, Yos S. Theosabrata, who said that
furniture exports next year were expected to plunge to below $1
billion from $1.8 billion in 2001.
He said that the massive levies imposed by provincial
governments were reducing the competitiveness of local furniture
producers overseas, while the smuggling of cheap logs to China
from Indonesia was also hurting the local furniture exporters.
The chairman of the Indonesian Wood Panel Association
(Apkindo), Martias, also foresaw a weak export performance next
year.
He said that plywood exports would remain flat in 2003 due to
weak demand from Japan's property sector, which absorbs some 90
percent of the country's plywood exports.
Martias estimated that next year plywood exports would stay at
around $2.2 billion, the same as this year's target.
Exports are an important engine of growth for the country's
economy in addition to investment and domestic consumption.
But the performance of the first two growth motors has been
declining over the past couple of years.
The Asian Development Bank said in a report this week that the
economies of the Southeast Asian nations would grow slightly
faster next year on the back of improving export performances.
Elsewhere, Rini signed an agreement on Friday with Minister of
Forestry M. Prakosa to set up a special agency to ensure a supply
of logs for the country's timber-related industries, while at the
same time ensuring forest sustainability.
The agency, which was the brainchild of the Ministry of Trade
and Industry, is intended to help boost the export of the
country's timber and timber-related products, and resolve the
problem of raw materials shortages.
Rini explained that without efforts to resolve the raw
materials shortages, the timber products industry could soon
suffer a serious downturn, which could leave some 4 million
people jobless.
Annual export earnings from the industry declined to $4
billion from 2000 to 2002 from between $7 billion and $8 billion
in 1999-2000.