Textile exports expected to rise 8 percent in 2006

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 07/07/2006 4:44 PM | Business

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The export value of the country's textiles and textile products is projected to increase around 8 percent to between US$9.3 billion and $9.4 billion this year from $8.6 billion last year, according to a senior government official.

Director general of textiles and metals at the Industry Ministry Anshari Bukhari said that obstacles imposed by the U.S. and European nations against China-made products would benefit Indonesia's textile producers.

""The textile industry has been contributing significantly to the country's foreign exchange revenues every year,"" Anshari said Thursday as quoted by Antara. Anshari made the comments on the sidelines of a ceremony held to hand over machinery donated from Belgium, Italy and Switzerland to the Bandung-based School of Textile Technology (ST3).

Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association Benny Sutrisno was confident that export revenues would surge beyond the $9 billion figure this year.

But he also urged the government to help protect the local industry from the massive inflows of cheaper products from overseas, particularly from China.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said the country's textile industry remained a promising sector, but added that various problems continued to undermine the sector, including aging machinery that had undermined efficiency.

He said around 40 percent of the country's textile machinery was already more than 20 years old, meaning that industry restructuring was inevitable to boost the efficiencies in the face of increased competition with producers from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

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