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Minister works with agencies on exports
Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong is confident that his ministry can find a way to boost exports despite weak global demand, saying it is coordinating with other state agencies to support export-oriented industries
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rade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong is confident that his ministry can find a way to boost exports despite weak global demand, saying it is coordinating with other state agencies to support export-oriented industries.
Thomas, who just took over the ministerial post from Rachmat Gobel, said the ministry had laid out several programs to boost exports, such as by providing support for export-oriented industries through coordination with the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
'We need to push for a boost in investment in the export-oriented industries and simplify procedures. So, we are carrying out intensive talks with the BKPM,' Thomas said at a press conference on Wednesday.
According to the ministry, the export-oriented industries include automotive and electronic manufacturers as well as products that are made of wood, textile, metal and chemical.
The ministry's acting director general for foreign trade Karyanto Suprih, meanwhile, said that efforts to boost exports included organizing export forums and research for the promotion of potential commodities.
Karyanto said the ministry was also seeking new markets outside traditional export destination markets, such as South America and Africa.
He added that the ministry was also facing a challenge to find ways to market local products in certain countries that produce similar products.
'Our products are competing with similar local and other exported goods in destination countries. That is why we should study their competitiveness, prices and so on,' Karyanto said.
To increase the study's effectiveness, Karyanto said the ministry was optimizing the role of its trade attaché at Indonesian embassies and Indonesia Trade Promotion Center (ITPC). ITPC is a non-profit government organization that provides related trade information.
The ministry is also prepared to hold the upcoming 30th Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), the country's largest trade exhibition, which will be held on Oct. 21-25 at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and expected to be attended by higher numbers of international buyers.
Thomas also said efforts to improve bilateral trade with China, one of Indonesia's biggest trading partners, should be maintained despite the East Asian country's declining economic growth.
According to Thomas, China's economic decline has caused the country's exports to decline. Indonesia mostly exports natural resources-based commodities to China.
'China's economic structure has drastically changed in a relatively short period and we were not ready in the past five years. That is why we should review what their import needs are and coordinate with the BKPM and Industry Ministry,' Thomas said.
Amid the economic slowdown, the country extended its trade surplus to US$1.33 billion in July, caused by a 22.3 percent year-on-year (yoy) decline in imports to $10 billion from the same month last year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, exports in July decreased 15.5 percent to $11.4 billion on a month-on-month basis from June or a 19.23 percent drop yoy from the same month last year. July's exports result poses a challenge for the ministry, which set its export growth target of 300 percent in the next five years, requiring a whopping 60 percent increase per year.
'The surplus in July was the highest since earlier this year, but it was helped by a decline in imports. This was caused by the global condition, in which demand from our export destinations remained weak,' Thomas said.
