Indonesia is facing an influx of imported goods from China as the latter is likely to shift to Asian markets in response to the looming decline of exports to Europe and the United States amid prolonged economic crises, an official says.
National Development Planning Agency's (Bappenas) trade, investment and international economic cooperation director, Amalia Adininggar, said that among the signs that China has been turning to Indonesian market for exports, mainly for textiles and electronic goods, is the soaring trade deficit recorded by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in January 2012.
The BPS recorded that Indonesia’s trade deficit with China rose to US$1.17 billion, while according to Bloomberg the trade deficit is $328 million. Last December, the deficit was just $162.9 million.
However, Amalia was optimistic that Indonesia would be able to harness the deficit, banking its hopes on the exports of raw material, such as coal.
"China still needs the coal from Indonesia as an energy source of their power," she was quoted by kontan.co.id on Monday.
From: The Jakarta Post