TRADE MINISTER URGED TO STOP BATIK CLOTH IMPORTS FROM CHINA

Jakarta, Oct 15 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Batik Clothes Cooperative Association (GKBI) called on the trade minister to stop the entry into Indonesia of print batik clothes from China.

"We hope that the trade minister will stop the imports of batik clothes from China. If Malaysia is able to halt the entry of the Chinese goods, why not Indonesia," President Director of GKBI Noer Basyah Joenet said after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla here on Wednesday.

Noer Basyah said the volumes of Chinese batik clothes entering the country were relatively small but it would endanger the domestic batik clothes industry. The GKBI president said the volume of Chinese batik clothes circulating in Indonesia was still small, namely about five percent.

"I don't know the exact volume but I think it does not exceed five percent," Noer Basyah said.

Basyah regretted the fact that the government until now had not yet been able to halt the entry of batik products from China.

Noer Basyah said Malaysia until now still refused the entry of Chinese batik clothes into the country. Therefore, Indonesia should also be able to do the same thing.

On the impact of the current global financial crisis, Noer Basyah said that Indonesia's batik clothes would not be affected by the current economic meltdown.

The GKBI president said most of the Indonesian batik clothes producers did not export their products so that they would not likely be affected significantly.

Batik products are categorized as a common textile product so that there are no differences between one batik products and another. The existing differences are their motives only.

That's whey if foreigners buy a batik product it does not mean that they are purchasing an Indonesian culture but its motives.

"Therefore, the fear of losing Indonesia's batik culture is an exaggeration," the GKBI president said.