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Indonesia should refocus exports to ASEAN market: Kadin
Indonesia should pay more attention to the ASEAN market following the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) this year, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan Roeslani has said.
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Illustration of ASEAN cooperation. (Shutterstock/File)
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ndonesia should pay more attention to the ASEAN market following the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) this year, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan Roeslani has said.
From January to August 2016, Indonesia's exports to ASEAN countries reached US$18.33 billion, a slight decrease from the same period last year at $18.19 billion. However, during the same period, the contribution to Indonesia's exports rose from 20.4 to 21.89 percent.
The export portion was bigger than that of the EU, which contributed 11.09 percent to the country’s total exports, and the US, China and Japan markets, which contributed 12.31 percent, 10.06 percent and 10.14 percent, respectively.
"It is time for Indonesia to focus more on the ASEAN market […] We have big hope that the AEC will motivate Indonesian exporters to boost exports to ASEAN countries," he said during the National Trade Conference themed "Trade and Export For All" in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Although Indonesian exports to the main traditional markets in ASEAN decreased, such as to Singapore (-0.46 percent) and Thailand (-6.09 percent), Rosan pointed out that exports to the other six countries showed a tremendous increase by 13.71 percent from $5.02 billion to $5.7 billion during January-August 2016.
The export value to those six ASEAN countries (Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei), however, was still lower than that to Singapore alone, which stood at $5.81 billion. Therefore, he urged businesspeople to further penetrate the six countries. (ags)
