Kaltara Trade Balance Surplus IDR 25.13 Trillion

TANJUNG SELOR Overseas trade balance in North Kalimantan Province (Kaltara) from January to September 2023 or the third quarter, experienced an increase or surplus of USD1.60 billion or Rp25.13 trillion.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Kaltara noted that Kaltara's export nominal until the end of the third quarter of 2023 was USD 2.006 billion (IDR 31.48 trillion). Meanwhile, the nominal import is USD 404.79 million (IDR 6.35 trillion).

Kaltara Governor Zainal Arifin Paliwang revealed that the surplus trade balance indicates that export performance is higher than imports in the same period. The trade balance surplus has a positive impact on macroeconomic indicators at the national to regional levels.

"The trade balance surplus supported by increased exports will affect domestic product demand. This condition is expected to encourage companies to create new jobs to boost production," he said, Thursday, November 30.

This has a positive impact on the regional economy, which has a trade balance surplus even with a number of notes.

"Export products are dominated by processed products that absorb a lot of labor," he said.

Kaltara's trade balance surplus has historically been supported by the high exports of coal commodities which contribute up to 80 percent every year.

"Natara coal, which is natural resources, cannot be updated and is predicted to expire within the next 47 years by considering the regional production quota every year," explained Zainal.

The coal mining sector also needs to be remembered as a capital-intensive economic activity with limited labor absorption.

"This portrait makes the profit received only felt by a small number of community groups, not to mention when these profits are consumed more outside Kaltara," he said.

Meanwhile, the contribution of exports from industrial products is still in the range of 10 to 15 percent. This figure is also still dominated by cigarettes from Singapore which only transits in Nunukan Regency to be sent back to Filiphina.

"The commodities that need attention the most are in the agricultural sector, the nominal is still far from expectations. In percentage terms, this sector's commodities only contributed 0.28 percent of Kaltara's exports this year," he explained.

On the other hand, the nominal imports entering Kaltara recorded fantastic growth this year. Import performance rose by 241 percent compared to the same period the previous year. Meanwhile, export performance only grew by around 7 percent.

"The high growth in imports has even been able to intervene in the decline in the trade balance surplus compared to the previous year. Industry-based goods groups dominate imports, which are up to 98 percent," he explained.

This is in line with the development of Indonesia's Green Industrial Estate (KIHI) which was accelerated in the second quarter of 2023. During this period, most imports came from the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and China with contributions of 75.79 percent, 12.04, 2.78 percent, and 1.92 percent, respectively, followed by other trading partners such as Russia, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

"It is very important for the government to stimulate the export performance of commodities sourced from labor-intensive processed industries. This step will create a trade balance surplus," he said.

The presence of KIHI is indeed a breath of fresh air in the appearance of a trade balance surplus that many people can feel going forward. Given the various industries in it produce export destination products and require a lot of workforce.

The operation of KIHI in the future will also reduce the nominal imports that enter and increase the nominal value of regional exports.

While waiting for the realization of the national strategic project, PT. Phoenix Resources International (PRI) in Tarakan which will operate in October 2024 is also expected to be able to boost exports of industrial products and at the same time absorb labor.

In the first phase, this company targets the export of paper porridge and semi-finished products to be processed by tissue, paper and so on. In stage two, it will be continued by producing finished goods products from Tarakan.

It is also important for the government to present another appropriate formulation to attract more investors in the incoming processed industry. This step certainly needs to be balanced by maintaining business climate certainty, ease of investing, the availability of infrastructure to the capacity of human resources.