Team to boost exports

JAKARTA (JP): The minister of industry and trade has formed a special team to boost exports of electronic products in this time of economic difficulty.

The minister, through a decree dated Feb. 27, 1998, said the special team would start work on April 1, when the new fiscal year commences.

The team, comprising a supervising board, an executive board and administration, would also focus on efforts to attract more electronics-industry investment.

According to official data, Indonesia's exports of electronics products rose 3.06 percent to US$2.8 billion for the January to October period of last year from $2.7 billion in the same period of 1996. Electronics exports stood at $2.9 billion in 1995 and $2.6 billion in 1994.

However, a large income from electronics exports does not contribute much to the country's balance of trade as it also spends a large amount of foreign exchange importing electronic components.

As an illustration, Indonesia's electronics component imports stood at $2.3 billion in 1995 and $1.9 billion in 1994. (rid)