Strengthening of rupiah affects trade at expo

Strengthening of rupiah affects trade at expo

JAKARTA (JP): The recent strengthening of the rupiah has
affected transactions at the 1998 Indonesian Export Products
exhibition at the Jakarta Fairgrounds.

Several foreign buyers told The Jakarta Post on Friday that
they found the exhibited products more expensive than they
previously expected.

Some complained over prices of wood furniture and textile
products.

"The exhibition is quite good, but the prices of furniture are
much more expensive here than those in Jepara (Central Java),"
said Franky Peters, an Australian who has resided in Bali for
four years.

Nigerian Samuel Agus, who often shops for textiles at Tanah
Abang market in Central Jakarta, also cited the high prices.

"I am looking for textile products. Their prices basically
remain inexpensive, but I could get much lower prices at
traditional markets."

Exhibitors contacted by the Post said they recorded few or no
transactions on Friday.

Meggy Lukmanjaya, who exhibits children's garments and
accessories, said she recorded no sales on Friday because most of
the visitors were just "window-shopping"

"We had no transactions today. Most of the buyers said they
were still choosing the products. I think it's because of the
weakening of the dollar."

Meggy said she changed the price tags of her products
following the appreciation of the rupiah. As a result, many of
her Middle Eastern customers had canceled their orders because
they disagreed with her marked-up prices.

"The problem is that they ordered at a time when the rupiah
was still at the 13,000 level per U.S. dollar. Now, one dollar
has become Rp 7,000."

Gloomy

Anton Rousallem, a marketing employee of a textile company,
said most of his buyers from South Africa withdrew their orders
because of the exchange rate problem.

"They said, 'we have to wait-and-see first'. I think they said
so because the prices are getting higher in dollar terms."

Exhibitors said they were charged Rp 5 million (US$640) per
nine-square-meter site for the five-day exhibition.

Despite the gloomy tales from exhibitors, the organizer
reported on Friday that transactions had reached $20.2 million,
with two days of the event remaining.

Top buyers were Indonesian trading firms or individuals ($5,6
million), U.S. companies ($2,2 million) and German ones ($2.1
million).

Most sought-after products were wood and rattan furniture,
glassware, stationary, plastic ware, handicrafts, toys and
kitchen equipment.

The report also said the number of buyers up to the second day
of the exhibition had reached 1,923 people from 89 countries.

Of this number, 1,639 were individual buyers and the rest were
members of trade missions. (29)