Textile Exports Expected to Rise: Indonesia

Don't you just love to hate globalisation. But for Indonesia it has proven beneficial in many ways and especially regarding the exporting of the nation's textiles.

The export value of the country's textiles and textile products is projected to increase around 8 percent to between US$9.3 billion and $9.4 billion this year from $8.6 billion last year according to a senior government official.

According to a Business News report in the JP, the director general of textiles and metals at the Industry Ministry Anshari Bukhari said that obstacles imposed by the U.S. and European nations against China-made products would benefit Indonesia's textile producers.

Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association Benny Sutrisno was confident that export revenues would surge beyond the $9 billion figure this year. But he also urged the government to help protect the local industry from the massive inflows of cheaper products from overseas and particularly from China.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said the country's textile industry remained a promising sector but added that various problems continued to undermine the sector including aging machinery that had undermined efficiency.
He said around 40 percent of the country's textile machinery was already more than 20 years old meaning that industry restructuring was inevitable to boost the efficiencies in the face of increased competition with producers from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.