REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KARAWANG -- The Industry Ministry has forecast Indonesia's car exports to reach 200 thousand this year, up 13 percent from 173 thousand last year.

"We exported 173 thousand cars last year. The figure is expected to increase to around 200 thousand in 2014," the ministry's director general for high technology priority industry, Budi Darmadi, stated after inaugurating the second unit of PT Honda Prospect Motor's plant in the Karawang District, West Java, on Wednesday.

The car exports will represent 15 percent of the total car production, which is projected to reach 1.3 million in 2014, he claimed.

He noted that the countries which have become the market for our cars were satisfied with the performance of Indonesian cars, thus the chances of increasing car exports were high.

The domestic car producers were exploring the possibility of expanding their African market, after having competed with foreign rivals in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, he remarked.

"They are expanding their market in Africa, after receiving a good response from the buyers in the export market," he added.

"Not just cars, but also Indonesian motorcycle manufacturers will try to penetrate the African market," he pointed out.

Even the producers of low-cost green cars (LCGC) launched only in 2013, are also exploring the possibility of exporting cars to other Southeast Asian countries, he noted.

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