TANGERANG (Banten), Oct 9 (Bernama-Antara) -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasised that Indonesia, the fourth-largest country in the world with a population of 280 million, must protect its domestic market and promote national products, reported Indonesian News Agency (Antara).
"This is necessary so we can dominate the domestic market and continue to penetrate foreign markets," he stated during the opening of the 39th Trade Expo Indonesia at ICE BSD, Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday.
Jokowi made this statement in response to concerns about overproduction in China.
"Overproduction in China has been widely discussed. Many countries are starting to worry and are preparing to protect their domestic markets from the massive influx of cheaper imported products from China," the president remarked.
He called for innovative marketing of domestic products in the digital era.
"Marketing should not always be done in conventional ways. We must enter the digital market to sell our domestic products, especially since many countries have imposed restrictions due to trade wars," he added.
Furthermore, he noted that the global economy is still growing slowly at a rate of 2.6 to 2.7 per cent along with inflation haunting several countries.
"The global inflation estimate is in the range of 5.9 per cent," he remarked.The head of state also pointed out that conventional trade wars have led countries to implement trade restriction policies.
"Currently, at least 19 countries are imposing such policies, causing global trade volumes to decline," he noted.
He expressed support for the 39th Trade Expo Indonesia as the largest export product exhibition in the country, aimed at showcasing superior domestic products to the global market.
"We must utilise this momentum to encourage higher export growth and improve the quality and competitiveness of our products to penetrate a wider market," he emphasised.
-- BERNAMA-ANTARA
