One might recall in the 1980s one of Bruce Lee's films, Enter the Dragon, was played all over Indonesia for quite a long time with great enthusiasm. It showed the famous Hong Kong Chinese actor and all his prowess in the film, making him an idol to so many of his fans.
In just a few days, or to be precise, on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2010 the dragon will enter Indonesia along with the 10 other ASEAN member-countries that signed the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with China. It means that China's powerful products - already dominating the country's shops and markets, such as textiles and textile products, fruits, drugs, children's toys, etc. -will further flood Indonesia legally, as no tariffs will be enforced to those products.
We wonder what's wrong with Chinese goods? This is the core problem. It's no secret that the quality of Chinese products are not much different to the quality of our own products, but theirs are even worse. Other than that, their products are so cheap, making domestic products less competitive and eventually killing them off. One might also remember in the 1970's that all imported Chinese goods were only products that were not produced locally. This new agreement will of course be more profitable for China than any of the other ASEAN countries, and it will prove to be a great loss for Indonesia as well.
A number of businesspeople have already expressed their concerns about the implementation of the agreement because, according to them, at least 10 industrial sectors will be hampered by the agreement; namely machinery, estates and agriculture, food and drinks, plastics, textiles and textile products, food products, electronics and electrical tools, iron and steel and machinery services.
With its US$2.3 trillion foreign exchange, the largest in the world, as compared with Indonesia's $61 billion currently, China will become even richer as trade statistics with Indonesia show disparity in favor of that country. According to the Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia's exports to China stands at 5.91 percent while imports are 8.55 percent. When the FTA is implemented, it is predicted that Indonesia's exports will increase to 8.20 percent, a 2.29 percent increase, while imports will balloon to 11,37 percent, an increase of 2.81 percent.
M. Rusdi
Jakarta
