Small and medium enterprises in Yogyakarta, the mainstays of the province’s economy, have started to show signs of recovery after last year’s earthquake.
The recovery of SMEs in Bantul regency, the area worst affected, had now reached 60 percent.
Bantul regency received donations amounting to around Rp 4 billion (US$45,770) to assist with SME recovery from the State Ministry for Cooperatives and SMEs last year, Rp 4 billion from the Trade Ministry and Rp 7 billion ($801,098) from the Industry Ministry.
“Our target is to achieve full recovery in 2008,” said Yahya, head of the Bantul trade agency, during the opening Tuesday of a two-day product exhibition and business forum at Le Meridien Hotel in Jakarta. The event is intended to promote the products of Yogyakarta industry.
“After the earthquake, many SMEs had to stop production because their infrastructure and equipment was destroyed” said the assistant to the deputy director for domestic trade at the State Ministry for Cooperatives and SMEs, Halomoan Tamba.
The exhibition and forum are expected to help reestablish the marketing networks disrupted by the earthquake, organizing committee chairperson Eritria D. Soedomo told The Jakarta Post.
Besides helping reestablish networks, the event would also promote new products from the province, she explained.
“Most of our products are exported to Europe. But now I want to start improving domestic sales. I hope this exhibition will familiarize people with our unique products,” said Tris Nugraheni, an exhibitor who produces furniture from mango wood.
Yahya said limited marketing and distribution opportunities were just some of the many problems faced by SMEs, besides a lack of capital, technology and management skills.
He said that in order to improve domestic distribution networks, SMEs and cooperatives had established a franchise business called Smescomart (small and medium enterprise and cooperative market), with 48 outlets in Java.
“SME products have few opportunities to get on the shelves of retailers such as Alfa. So we are encouraging the establishment of stores that use the same marketing systems as are employed by established retailers to help sell their products.” said Halomoan. He added that people had responded enthusiastically to the Smescomart outlets, and more would be opened in Bali soon. (JP/12)
Die-hard habit an easy sell in masculine Indonesia
June 8th, 2007
Indonesian will remain Singapore’s number-one source of overseas visitors for the foreseeable future despite the sluggish growth in tourists traveling to the city state from Indonesia in recent years.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) regional director for international operations Chooi Yee Choong said here Thursday that about 10 million foreign tourists were expected to visit Singapore this year, about two million of whom would come from Indonesia.
Indonesian would remain Singapore’s largest source of visitors for at least the next few years, he said.
Since 2004, the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Singapore has been increasing by only an average of between 2 and 4 percent per year. Last year, of the total of 9.7 million tourists visiting Singapore, Indonesians accounted for the biggest portion at 20 percent, or about 1.9 million people spending an average of S$800 (US$520) per person.
Chooi said that even though Indonesia was categorized as a mature market, with most visitors coming from the countries big cities, such as Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya, there were still opportunities to attract more visitors from Indonesia’s smaller cities.
STB tourism business manager Hassan Kassim said that as part of its effort to attract more Indonesians to Singapore, the STB conducted promotions in secondary cities, such as Jambi and Manado, last year.
“This year, we will hold the Great Singapore Sale Travel Fair in Pekanbaru, Riau, to provide not only comprehensive information on tourism programs for local people, but also to attract them with special discounted travel packages,” Kassim said.
Aware of the importance of Indonesians to its tourism industry, the STB has arranged for Indonesians to benefit from bigger discounts during this year’s Great Singapore Sale from May 25 to July 22. This comes on top of other tourist benefits as tax refunds and discount cards, and only requires the production of an Indonesian passport.
“Indonesia is still a big market for us, besides other potential markets like China,” said STB area director Hoe Teck Wei.
Teck Wei told The Jakarta Post that China had become one of Singapore’s top suppliers of foreign tourists for the first time ever, with about 1 million visitors traveling from China last year, second only to Indonesia.
“In the old days, Chinese people didn’t travel very much. But due to the current economic boom, which has made them richer, a lot of them want to travel,” Teck Wei explained.
With a lot of upcoming tourism projects, Teck Wei said that he was optimistic Singapore would be able to achieve its target of 17 million visitor arrivals and S$30 billion in tourism receipts by 2025.
Singapore will launch its first giant observation wheel, known as the Singapore Flyer and similar to the London Eye, in April next year. In addition, two casino resorts, Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa, will open in September next year and in 2010 respectively. Singapore has also recently won approval to hold a nighttime Formula 1 grand prix, with the first race to be staged in September next year.
Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
June 8th, 2007