Shoe exports to fall in 2002

Shoe exports to fall in 2002

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo) predicted that
exports would decline by 10 percent to 20 percent next year from
US$1.7 billion in 2000, as orders for footwear decreased on the
back of a global economic slowdown.

Aprisindo chairman Anton J. Supit said on Tuesday that
footwear manufacturers had yet to receive orders for January and
February shipments and feared that the slump might cause some
companies to cut their production.

"We usually receive orders three months in advance, so our
exports until the end of the year are more or less secure. What
we are concerned about is next year's orders, which are generated
this year, and we are still waiting orders for January and
February," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on
promoting competition-based trade policies, organized by the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Anton said that Indonesia exported 40 percent of its footwear
production to the United States, which was unfortunate, as demand
from the country had slumped after the terrorist attacks in
September.

He also said that several episodes in Indonesia recently,
including the upsurge in anti-U.S. sentiment, had damaged
confidence in the country.

"Buyers usually send their representatives here to negotiate
orders with producers; if their safety were in question no buyer
would send its people," Anton said.

He said that the government should be able to guarantee the
safety of foreigners and foreign investments in the country in
order to give an indication of goodwill and to restore
confidence.

"What we wanted was for Pak Bambang Yudhoyono to say 'I
guarantee' but that never happened; instead, he said that he
couldn't guarantee, and that spelt trouble for us," Anton said,
referring to the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Furthermore, competition from Vietnamese producers would be
greater in the U.S. market because their trade relations have
been normalized, he said.

Anton said that the industry would try its hardest to prevent
the layoff of its workers, but that in the event of a slump the
companies would reduce work shifts and refrain from hiring new
laborers.