Promoting Exports on a Tight Budget
Indonesia has reopened the government-sponsored Indonesian Trade and Promotion Center (ITPC) after closing the body two years ago due to lack of funds. But even now, funding for the agency is minute compared to similar promotion agencies in other countries.
September 25, 2000
The past three years have seen Indonesian non-oil and gas exports plunge drastically. Exports in 1999 totaled only US$38.8 billion compared to the 1997 pre-crisis figure of $43.1 billion. Worse, the drop in exports occurred in the U.S. and Japan markets, major importers of Indonesian goods. Exports to Japan, for example, totaled a mere $5.7 billion last year, compared to $7 billion in 1996.
The government is now trying to drive up non-oil and g
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