REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The national exports of furniture and handicraft products are expected to reach 2 billion USD this year or higher than 1.8 billion USD as recorded in 2013. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan was optimistic that the exports of furniture and handicraft products will increase following the implementation of the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) on Thursday.

"Now, all countries have understood that wooden products from Indonesia are made legally and sustainably through SVLK. Certification from other parties is no longer needed," he stated after meeting the board members of the Indonesia Furniture and Handicraft Industries Association (Asmindo).

Zulkifli Hasan noted that SVLK was a facility provided by the Ministry of Forestry to boost competitiveness of the country's furniture and handicraft industries. He affirmed that his office also gave special treatment to small industries to meet the SVLK requirement through the provision of group certification and use of legality adjustment document free of charge, among others.

Currently, around 60 percent of the country's furniture industries have adopted SVLK. The Indonesian government has made it mandatory for all furniture and handicraft industries in the country to implement SVLK by January 2015, at the latest. Asmindo Chairman Taufik Gani meanwhile remarked that SVLK is better than the certificates issued by foreign countries.

"Indonesia has developed SVLK by itself, and so, it knows exactly which wood is legal and illegal," he pointed out.

Gani stated that the foreign exchange income from furniture exports during the period between 2011 and 2013 was recorded at 1.76 billion USD, 1.83 billion USD, and 1.81 billion USD, respectively. The amount was half of the total national exports of wood products apart from pulp and paper. With local content reaching almost 100 percent, furniture and handicraft industries in the country had the potential to absorb almost four million workers.

"With SVLK, market penetration has become stronger," he added.

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