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ocal exporters and importers remain optimistic on their cross-border trade prospects for the next six months, despite fallout from the eurozone crisis, a recent HSBC survey says.

HSBC Indonesia’s global trade and receivables finance head, Nirmala Salli, said on Wednesday that 61 percent of 308 Indonesian exporters and importers surveyed said that they expected their trade volume to increase in the next six months.

“Indonesian exporters and importers still have a positive outlook on the country’s cross-border trade prospects, despite the economic crisis,” she said at a press conference on the survey.

Indonesian traders, she added, were among the most optimistic of the respondents for the 20 countries surveyed in HSBC’s trade confidence index.

Indonesia scored 130, 17 points higher than the global average trade confidence index of 113.

Traders in Indonesia, she added, were the second most confident among respondents, ranked only behind those from Saudi Arabia, which scored 137.

Indonesia, according to the survey, was the most confident in the Southeast Asia region, beating out Singapore and Vietnam, which each scored 115; and Malaysia, which scored 111.

The survey rated 5,800 exporters and importers in 20 countries, giving them a score from 0 to 200, with 100 being neutral.

“Indonesia’s score declined by 14 points from 144 recorded in the previous survey, which was taken in the June-to-December period last year. But our nation’s exporters and importers were still optimistic about trade, despite the decrease,” Nirmala said.

The survey shows Indonesian export commodities that were expected to grow rapidly include coal, petroleum and palm oil.

Coal exports have been tipped to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9 percent from 2012 to 2016, while petroleum exports have been forecast to increase 13.3 percent in the same period, and the nation’s palm oil exports were expected to grow 11.3 percent.

According to the Central Statistic Agency (BPS), exports of minerals, primarily coal, and vegetable oil, mostly palm oil, contributed 16.94 percent and 13.37 percent, respectively, to the Indonesia’s total non-oil and gas exports of US$162.02 billion in 2011.

The survey said that 36 percent of 308 local respondents said that Greater China, which comprises China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, was the best region in which they could expand. The figure is nine points higher than previous survey.

Thirty-one percent of local respondents, also nine points higher than the previous survey, preferred to expand in Southeast Asia, while 9 percent, five points higher than previous survey, thought the Middle East region was the promising region to expand their business. (asa)