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o help motivate exporters and encourage productivity, the East Java administration, in coordination with provincial branches of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) and the Indonesian Exporters Association (GPEI), presented awards to 12 successful export businesses in Surabaya on Tuesday.

Provincial trade and industry agency head, Zainal Abidin, said the awards were also aimed at encouraging exporters as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand businesses and commit to export development.

"That's why we decided to present the awards to those with high performances," said Zainal.

The award committee selected the winning exporters and categorized them into four groups.

The first award, for strong performance, went to PT Langgeng Karya Makmur Lestari, PT Bumi Muara Internusa and PT Era Tex Jaya.

The second category, the global branding of exports, went to PT Maspion, PT White Oil Nusantara and PT Rutan.

The third award, the SME category, went to PT Raja Paksi Adya Perkasa, CV Jaya Makmur and PT Inkor Bola Pasific.

The fourth award, for creative export products was presented to Bagaskara Art, Sanggar Seni Bahari and Eksotis Sells & Aksesoris home industries.

Zainal expressed optimism that export conditions would improve, despite export values in the province significantly decreasing since the start of the global economic downturn.

He added the value had even been increasing by 2.6 percent per month since August.

"It's a good sign for exporters to seriously expand their export plans," he said.

Speaking at the award presentation ceremony, East Java Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf congratulated the award recipients. He expressed hope the award would motivate them to work harder and also inspire other businesses.

Syaifullah was also optimistic about future economic conditions, saying there were many prospective investors that had expressed interest in investing in the province.

He said most investors had expressed interest because of the availability of human and natural resources in the province, as well as it being categorized as a safe and comfortable place to do business.

To support and boost investment in the province, he added, the provincial administration had focused on providing better infrastructure. It planned, he said, to finish the construction of a highway and toll roads by 2012, or 2013 at the latest.

The administration also planned to revitalize its commercial port to speedup export and import activities through the province, he said.