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.