Cirebon (ANTARA) -

The West Java Provincial Government (Pemprov Jabar) is targeting new markets in the Southeast Asia (ASEAN) region to the Middle East as a destination for exporting rattan furniture from Cirebon Regency.

 

"We are looking for alternative countries as export destinations. We see that ASEAN has great potential, then the Middle East and Africa. "We are exploring that for export (rattan furniture)," said Head of the West Java Province Industry and Trade Service (Disperindag) Noneng Komara Nengsih when met in Cirebon, West Java, Wednesday.

 

Noneng said that over the last few years rattan furniture produced in Cirebon and other areas in West Java has succeeded in penetrating the European market.

 

However, he said, due to the global conflict, the delivery of rattan furniture from Cirebon to several destination countries in Europe was disrupted and the trend was declining.

On this basis, the company is trying to expand rattan furniture products to other countries outside Europe.

 

"If we go to Europe, because what will be marketed or sent in 2023 will be based on orders from the previous year. "But in 2022 there will be a war and orders from Europe will decrease, so the number of our exports will decrease," he said.

 

Although he did not mention it in detail, Noneng confirmed that the condition of rattan furniture exports from West Java was still quite good. This also happens for all other export commodities.

 

"Exports (2023) have now reached IDR 33 trillion throughout West Java. "As for the rattan itself, if it doesn't go to European countries, it's still in good condition," he said.

 

Despite experiencing a decline, he continued, West Java remains the highest exporting region nationally with a contribution value of 14.4 percent in 2023 or a significant increase compared to 2022 where the figure was around 13 percent.

 

According to him, almost 98 percent of export commodities in West Java are supported by industrial activities such as automotive, machinery and rattan-based furniture.

 

“West Java is still ranked first in Indonesia. But in nominal terms exports have decreased. Not only West Java but all of Indonesia. "Even though it has decreased, West Java's contribution has increased because other provinces have decreased even more," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Acting Governor of West Java Bey Triadi Machmudin encouraged the rattan industry in Cirebon Regency to diversify its products so that the number of goods sent to foreign markets could increase.

 

Bey also hopes that the rattan industry in Cirebon can continue to grow so that it can trigger the rate of economic growth in the district.

 

"This must be developed in the future, so that one of our superior products is something like rattan. "There must be more product diversification and there are also countries that are going down and looking for other markets," said Bey. 

 

Source: www.antaranews.com  

Savana Rattan Furniture www.savanarattan.com