Shoe producers take a beating as demand slows

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 11/22/2008 9:37 PM | Business

The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Saturday that shoe factories in the province were already suffering from the impact of the global economic slow down.

Chairman Erlangga Satriagung said that demand for products from the U.S. and Europe had already decreased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

“Moreover, prices of imported raw materials have also risen, due to stronger dollar,” Erlangga said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the shoe industry in East Java employed some 35,000 workers and that their livelihood were threatened if the government failed to come up with measures to curb pressure from the sloping demand.

So far, he argued, the government and the central bank had yet to come out with meaningful measures to cushion the burden carried by employers.

“Nobody is happy to close his own business and fire all his workers, unless he is force to do so,” he said. (and)

Source : www.thejakartapost.com