In order to increase the ability of exporters to adjust the quality of their products to their export destination countries, the Ministry of Trade in collaboration with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO), the Industry and Trade Service of Central Java Province, Forestry Industry Revitalization Agency and also the Indonesia Export Insurance today, Wednesday (20/2), held a product adaptation by means of  workshop and visit to producers.

The adaptation workshop this time was themed Exporting Successfully to Switzerland and the EU Opportunities for Indonesian Wood Processing Companies. The Workshop that was attended by 40 participants was also held to net prospective participants of the upcoming 2013 Interzum Fair in Germany.

In this workshop, two experts from SIPPO, Sabine Hahn-Fornet and Johannes Schwegler were present to share their knowledge and experience with regards to processed wood products.

Sabine Hahn-Fornet presented the current trend in processed wood products that is currently developing in Europe especially those that were attracting a lot of interest at the 2013 BAU

Munich exhibition. Besides that, Sabine also introduced the programs and facilities of SIPPO.

Meanwhile, Johannes Schwegler conveyed information about the technical procedures of product processing to meet standards for export to Europe especially to Switzerland and industrial design for processed wood. Another expert from SIPPO also gave a presentation, which was about using a Letter of Credit (LC) in exporting.

Besides SIPPO, representatives from Indonesia Export Insurance also gave a presentation about the importance of utilizing insurance in exporting. Meanwhile, the representatives of the Forestry Industry Revitalization Agency explained the standard legal verification of wood used, which includes standards of shipping for export.

According to the Director of Export Product Development, Dody Edward, Indonesia is a country with an abundant resource of timber. The creative potential in creating processed wood products is quite high and the diversity of design styles that are locally distinctive is also a determining factor in the competitiveness of Indonesian Products. “All of these things require development in the technique of product processing in order to adjust to the needs of the export destination markets,” he added.

The development of Indonesian processed wood products export (including HS 94 and 44) throughout the period of 2009-2011 shows a trend that is leaning towards positive, even  though it was only about 1%. The main export destination countries for processed wood products are, among others, Japan, the United States, China, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and England. The export value of processed wood products for the period of January-November 2012 is USD 4.09 million, up 2.5% from the same period the previous year which was at USD 4.19 million.

Besides the workshop, a visit will also be held to companies that will participate in the BAU Munich 2014. The visit is an effort to counsel and direct by the experts at SIPPO to companies in order to adjust their products for the exhibition next year.