REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Minister of Trade, Gita Wirjawan said that Indonesian handicraft exports continued to increased in period of 2008 to 2012. The increase reached 5.61 percent, especially in export to United States and Japan.

"Export value of Indonesia's handicraft products reached 696.33 million USD in 2012. During January to August 2013, the value has reached 446.41 million USD," Wirjawan said recently.

Indonesia exported 43.32 percent of handicrafts to US, while 11.78 percent to Japan, 5.03 percent to Britain, 3.7 percent to Germany and 3.14 percent to Australia. Wirjawan added that economic development of Free Trade Agreements and ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 could increase Indonesian products' competitiveness to other countries' products, especially in terms of price, quality, and design.

This competitiveness will encourage and motivate local enterpreneurs to be more resilient and creative in producing products to meet the demands of global market. It needs supports from all parties, especially government. The global demands of Indonesian handicrafts are quite high due to their creativity, uniqueness which unlikely owned by any other country.

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