Boost in Indonesia's textile exports to China

According to the Indonesian Textile Association (API), the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that Indonesia has signed with China boosted the former's textile items'export to China by over 30 percent during the last year, and has thus earned Indonesia recognition as an exporter of textile items to China.

API Chairman Ade Sudrajat recently said that, while Indonesia's textile exports to China witnessed a 70 percent rise during 2010, fibre and yarn exports too individually grew by 65 percent. Indonesia serves to be a consistent source for China for importing raw material for textile industry.

Sudrajat stated that, it is not possible for China, the world's most populated country housing around 1.3 billion inhabitants, to domestically meet its overall demand for textile and textile items. Also because China's per head textile consumption is growing at a higher pace and has soared from 12 kg to 18 kg per head per annum.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, revealed that Indonesia's textile and textile items'export to China during last year comprised of 60 percent garments and three percent fibre yarn.

The Minister, in a recent conversation with press in Bundung said that, rising cost of human resources has rendered China's textile sector less competitive, while trade conflicts with the US and the EU too have also adversely affected the competitiveness of the China's textile industry.

Quite contrary to China, Indonesia has attained the targets set for development of the textile sector during the last three years, the Minister said but he even pointed that, the Indonesian industry still needs to work on its quality and marketing.

This year, Indonesia has fixed a target of US $15 billion in exports of textile and textile goods, as over last year's $11.2 billion.