Comment: Editorial: Exports feel the brunt

Feb. 6, p. 6

Indonesian exports recorded an impressive increase of 29 percent to a historic high of US$203.62 billion last year. However, developments over the last few months have begun to show the effects of the weakening economies in Europe and the United States.

Strikingly different from the steady and robust growth recorded between January and August, exports in the last four months have declined, albeit slightly, as the fallout from the eurozone debt crisis and the weakening economic recovery in the US began to hit Indonesia and its major trading partners in Asia.

Your comments:

As the weakening economies and buying power especially in Europe and US will slow down the global economy, Indonesia should certainly find stable alternatives markets.

It should also concentrate on supplying its own domestic market needs (raw materials and manufactured goods) rather than importing from other countries (rice, processed food, oil and gas, electronics, etc.).

Increase the production of value-added products (not only from low value-added industrial products) is certainly necessary, in order to compete and reap greater profits.

Concerted support in infrastructure, technology/machinery for the manufacturing, packaging, necessary loans/capitals, market analysis, and policies are really needed to make it work.

But I think technological abilities and quality control is the largest deficiency in Indonesia.

Maybe more scholarships for mechanical engineering in the fields of agriculture, transportation and other technology related degrees might be a way to try nurture the skills and strong willingness exemplified by SMK students building Esemka cars.
J. Balw
Jakarta