REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia is eyeing the Japanese market to export its apparel products such as T-shirts, singlets, and other vests, as Tokyo has been selected to host the Summer Olympics in 2020, a senior official stated.

"Indonesia has to exploit this opportunity. We have to start promoting our apparel products such as T-shirts, singlets, and other vests in the Japanese market," Nus Nuzulia Ishak, the director general of National Export Development of the Ministry of Trade, stated in a press release here on Wednesday.

The import market for T-shirts, singlets, and other vests in Japan in 2014 was worth US$2.2 billion.

Indonesia's exports of the products to Japan in the January-April 2015 period were valued at only US$24.89 million, increasing from US$17.46 million in 2014.

"Based on the data, it could be ascertained that Indonesia's position in Japan is relatively strong. It has the opportunity to increase its exports," Nus affirmed.

Besides this, the directorate general for export development was also making preparations for the entry of Indonesia's halal beverage products into the Japanese market.

Data released by the Brand Research Institute indicated that some 350 thousand Muslim tourists visited Japan in 2013.

During the Summer Olympics in 2020, the number of Muslim tourists visiting Japan is expected to double.

"Indonesian halal beverage producers should not miss out on this opportunity," Nus stated.

The Japanese halal food market comprising meat and edible meat offal products and fowl (gallus domesticus) meat was worth US$3.36 billion in 2014.

Its imports of meat and edible meat offal products were worth US$1.42 billion, and its exports of fowl meat reached US$1.94 billion.

Until now, Indonesia's exports of the two types of products failed to make a leeway into the Japanese market, while the market of food products in that country is expected to grow further.

According to information received from the Indonesian representative office in Tokyo, Japan is only able to cater to 40 percent of its requirement of food commodities.

"Japan is in dire need to import food products to meet its domestic demand," Nus remarked.

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