RI Prepares Strategies To Overcome Exports Decline

Jakarta, June 8 (ANTARA) - Indonesia (RI) has developed strategies to tackle its declining exports in the wake of the global economic crisis, Deputy Minister of Trade Bayu Khrisnamurthi said. Speaking at a discussion here on Thursday, he said: "The impact of the current global economic crisis has been more real on the country`s exports, as shown by a deficit in the trade balance." He noted the drop in non-oil/gas trade surplus was triggered by reduced trade with several major trade partners such as China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia. However, Bayu said, the slow growth in exports during the January-April 2012 period was not only experienced by Indonesia, but also by other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Brazil and China. He stated Indonesia had developed four international trade strategies to overcome the export slump. "The first strategy deals with intensifying promotion and international trade diplomacy, based on commodities and export destination approaches," Bayu said. "The second one involves exporting products with added value, anticipating a possible slump in the price of commodities in the international market, while the third one will focus on exports to non-conventional markets that are still growing at a high rate," he added. The fourth strategy would revolve around protecting and strengthening the domestic market, Bayu said. Indonesia`s balance of trade in April 2012 suffered a deficit of US$641.1 million, down 138.5 percent from a surplus of US$1.7 million during the same period in the previous year. The deficit in the non-oil/gas sector was recorded at US$17.9 million, down 100.9 percent from a surplus of US$1.9 million in April 2011, while the deficit in the oil and gas sector rose 91.34 percent year-on-year at US$623.2 million. The balance of trade in the January-April 2012 period recorded a surplus of US$2.1 million, although it was a decline of 74.2 percent compared with that of the same period last year. The non-oil and gas sector recorded a surplus of US$3.3 million, down 62.1 percent, while the oil and gas sector recorded a deficit of 169.9 percent or US$1.2 million. Agriculture, meanwhile, was the sector that saw the deepest slump in exports, at 3.0 percent or US$1.63 million, during the January-April 2012 period, while exports of industrial products dropped 0.7 percent, at US$38.39 million. However, exports from the mining sector grew 15.1 percent, by US$11.1 million. Industrial commodities that continued to record an increase in exports were motor vehicles and parts (43.7 percent), fat and vegetable oil (32.9 percent), fish and shrimp (27.5 percent) and machinery/mechanical devices (20.6 percent). Countries that recorded the highest increase in exports in the first quarter of 2012 were Ivory Coast (853.8 percent), Djibouti (298 percent), Pakistan (113 percent), Myanmar (86.2 percent), Qatar (67 percent), Morocco (39 percent) and Peru (38.8 percent). The deputy trade minister explained the reduced imports of consumer goods and higher imports of capital goods were in line with increasing investment in Indonesia. In the first quarter, imports of consumer goods grew 3.1 percent, raw materials 13.2 percent, and capital goods 35.2 percent. Indonesia saw its highest year-on-year increase in imports from Kuwait (3,650 percent), Nigeria (650 percent), Saudi Arabia (328 percent), Russia (180 percent) and Canada (71 percent).