Jakarta, Dec 6 (Antara) -- Indonesia's rattan-based products will get
another boost with the inauguration of the National Rattan Innovation
Center in Palu, Central Sulawesi province, which claims to be the
largest rattan producer in Indonesia.
"Our rattan industry has yet to be developed to its maximum potential.
The Central Sulawesi National Rattan Innovation Center is, however,
expected to boost the development of national rattan industries through
the availability of new rattan furniture designs and services," Industry
Minister Saleh Husin said after inaugurating the rattan innovation
center on Saturday.
The building of the first Indonesian rattan innovation center is
located in an industrial area within Palu's Special Economic Zone (KEK).
Central Sulawesi province is the biggest rattan producer in Indonesia,
contributing 60 percent of the world's rattan supplies. This makes
Indonesia the world's largest rattan producer.
Considered the world's largest rattan exporter, Indonesia's rattan
resources are available in tropical forests across ten provinces.
Central Sulawesi claims being the biggest producer among them all.
Indonesia was a major exporter of raw rattan products in the past, but
it stopped its raw rattan exports in 2011, encouraging local industries
to process the commodity at home to gain added values before they are
exported.
Although many rattan farmers and collectors complained about the ban on
raw rattan exports, arguing that rattan industries are not able to
absorb their produce, the value of Indonesia's processed rattan-based
exports have continued to increase since then.
The trade minister issued decree number 35/2011, banning the export of
raw rattan in an effort to increase rattan's added value. Since then,
the decree has had a positive impact on Indonesia's rattan-based product
exports.
Data
from the Indonesian Rattan Handicraft and Furniture Industry
Association (Asmindo) revealed that Indonesia's rattan exports in 2010
were valued at US$137.9 million, a 9.6 percent increase when compared to
those in 2009. However, figures dropped by 17.6 percent to US$113.6
million in 2011 due to the global economic crisis.
Other data also indicated that the value of Indonesia's rattan-based
exports in 2011 was recorded at US$113.6 million. This began to increase
after the trade minister's decree was issued. The exports continued to
increase in value, and in 2012 and 2013, it stood at US$202.6 million
and US$262.5 million, respectively.
In 2014, the Asmindo set a bold export target of more than US$1 billion.
Asmindo Chairman for West Java, Sumartja, stated recently that Cirebon,
a rattan-producing district in the province, is expected to contribute
to the national export target this year.
"Indonesia's rattan-based product exports are expected to meet the
target, which is set at over US$1 billion this year," Sumartja was
quoted as saying by Bisnis.com online media last April.
According to the Indonesian Rattan and Wood-Based Furniture Association
(AMKRI), Indonesia's rattan-based furniture and handicraft exports
continued to increase despite the ban imposed in 2011. This year,
national rattan product exports are expected to increase by 8 percent
from that in 2013 when it stood at US$262.5 million.
AMKRI Chairman for East Java, Nur Cahyudi, noted that the ban on the
exportation of raw rattan affected the performance of the country's
rattan exports positively.
Exports of raw rattan, which saw a decline when the decree was first imposed, is now encouraging, he affirmed.
Cahyudi pointed out that Indonesia's rattan-based products were
exported to China, the United States, Japan, Germany, and the
Netherlands, among other countries. Last year's exports increased by 30
percent to US$262.5 million from US$202.6 million in 2012, he added.
The AMKRI chairman further noted that East Java's contribution to the
national exports accounted for 30 percent of the total. Recently, the
East Java chapter of AMKRI organized exhibitions in California in the
United States and in Guangzhou in China to measure buyers' interest.
In contrast to rattan processing industries, rattan farmers and
collectors complained about the ban on raw rattan exports.
Farmers and collectors in Kotawaringin Timur district, Central Kalimantan, asked the president to lift the ban.
"We hope the president revokes the ban, or at least allows us to export
semi-finished rattan products, which will encourage us again and enable
us to absorb more workers," Dahlan Ismail, a rattan grower and
collector in Kotabesi sub-district of Sampit, Central Kalimantan,
remarked last week.
He added that when the government issued the ban on raw rattan exports
through the trade minister's decree number 35/2011, the rattan industry
underwent a gloomy period. This had had significant social impacts as it
had crippled businesses in the sector.
Thousands of tons of raw rattan in Central Kalimantan rotted due to the
absence of buyers as industries at home were only able absorb a limited
volume of raw rattan. The waves of workers' layoffs that followed could
not be prevented.
"We hope the decree on the ban on raw rattan exports is lifted, or at
least revised to allow the export of semi-finished rattan products,"
Ismail emphasized.
In
the face of this problem, an Asmindo executive once suggested the
establishment of a buffer stock agency like the logistics board Bulog.
Bulog has the task of collecting farmers' rice and distributing it to
the people as and when they need it.
A
similar buffer stock agency is needed to accommodate farmers' raw
rattan and ensure stocks for rattan-based manufacturing industries.
The
problem of rattan stocks has pit rattan farmers and rattan-based
industries against each other over the last few years.
When
the government allowed raw rattan to be exported in accordance with a
decree issued by the trade minister in 2009, rattan-based manufacturing
industries complained of shortages of raw material.
Now, with the trade minister's 2011 decree, it is the rattan farmers who complain.
"What
is needed now is government assistance in marketing and roads that will
allow rattan farmers and collectors to carry out their business in
villages smoothly," 52-year-old Mardan, a rattan collector and farmer in
Tumbang Munjul village, Seruyan district, Central Kalimantan, pointed
out.
***2***
(T.A014/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 06-12-2014 22:03:0 |
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