Transport hampers RI-Turkey trade
Transport hampers RI-Turkey trade
JAKARTA (JP): The lack of direct shipping and airline services
is one of the main obstacles in improving bilateral trade with
Turkey, an Indonesian official said here yesterday.
Director General of Domestic Trade Ilchaedi Elyas said
shipping cargo or visiting Turkey through other countries made
transportation costs higher.
"It makes costs higher and takes a lot of time," he said at
the sidelines of a seminar on Turkey's economy, joint investment
and opportunities, hosted by the Turkish Embassy.
He said both Indonesia and Turkey felt the importance of
opening direct shipping and airline services to boost two-way
trade.
"We're working together to solve this problem. Turkey's
government has asked Garuda Indonesia (the state-owned flag
carrier) to run direct flights to Turkey," he remarked, saying
the direct-flight plan was still being negotiated by the two
governments.
Ilchaedi, who represented the director general of foreign
trade at the seminar, said that Turkey, which had nine free-trade
zones offering tax incentives, was not only a good investment
opportunity for Indonesian investors, but also a potential market
for exporters.
Trade between the two countries has so far favored Indonesia.
Indonesia sent US$149.4 million in exports to Turkey last year,
while imports from Turkey totaled over $57.1 million.
Indonesia's main exports to Turkey include textiles, garments,
forestry products, rubber and crude palm oil.
Turkey's main exports to Indonesia are iron and steel,
tobacco, textiles, textile products and tomato ketchup.
Chairman of the Indonesian-Turkey Business Council of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry H.M. Moezakkir said
that besides shipment and transportation problems, trade between
the countries was also hampered by a lack of banking ties.
"The lack of financial agreements between Indonesian and
Turkish banks has forced the banks to make transactions through
European banks. This has made business more complicated," he
said.
He said the two countries formed a business council two years
ago to promote the exchange of information on trade, industry and
other business activities.
Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Sevinc Dalyanoglu said
his country had abolished all kinds of trade and foreign exchange
restrictions and established free-trade zones to attract foreign
investors and to promote exports.
He said the Indonesian and Turkish governments had worked
together in identifying products most needed by each country.
The two governments had also set up bilateral trade forums,
sent trade missions and conducted trade diplomacy to expand the
countries' export markets and to identify problems curbing export
growth. (08)