Turkish electronic companies eye RI

JAKARTA. A large delegation from the Turkish Electro Technology Exporters’ Association (TET) met with business leaders from the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) here on Monday to explore business opportunities in the consumer electronics industry.

TET chairman Fatih Kemal Ebiclioglu said the delegation that represented 12 electronics companies expressed interest in entering the rapidly growing Indonesian market through trade and eventually investing in electronics plants.

“We have so far exported 40 percent of our consumer electronic products, such as home appliances to Europe, but Indonesia, with its population of 237 million and high economic growth, is currently a very promising market,” said Fatih.

He acknowledged the fierce competition within the electronics industry in Indonesia where most major producers from Japan, South Korea and China have established production bases.

He was confident, however, that Turkish electronics companies that had exported goods worth US$10 billion last year would be able to penetrate the local market.

Turkish Ministry of Economy Director General for Exports Ali Riza Oktay said the business delegation included Arçelik, a leading supplier of home appliances to the European market, major LCD TV manufacturer and exporter Vestel, and Deka, one of the largest manufacturers of power supply cord and electro-
mechanical components in Turkey.

Ali added several of the business delegates expressed interest in investing in cable and home-appliance manufactures in the country, but he declined to provide further details.

According to Ali, policy improvement in terms of customs regulation is important to ease the partnership between the two countries.

“Due to the tight competition in the electronics industries, we are hoping both governments would reinforce this business partnership by arranging a special agreement to ease business cooperation. For example, reducing the import duties that are relatively high for Turkish companies,” Ali told The Jakarta Post.

Kadin executive Bambang Sudjagad said bilateral trade ties between the two countries had been rapidly expanding with Indonesian exports consisting mainly of palm oil, chocolate and coal, while imports were mostly made up of wheat flour.

“We imported 674,640 tons of wheat flour from Turkey last year alone,” Sudjagad added.

Indonesian Trade Ministry data showed two-way Indonesia-Turkey trade increased to $1.98 billion last year from $1.37 billion in 2010 with a trade surplus of almost $880 million for Indonesia. (The Jakarta Post)