"We are worried that the continuing economic slump in Europe will affect our exports to the region," Made Puspa, one of the businessmen and exporters of handicrafts, said here on Saturday.
He said the volume of shipments of handicraft products from Bali to Europe had started to drop.
But European tourists were still coming to the tourist island and certainly they would still make orders or directly buy handicrafts, he said.
According to the province`s industry and trade office, Bali`s non-oil/non-gas exports to Europe have started to decline.
Around 26 countries in Europe only purchased US$110.9 million worth of handicrafts and other non-oil/non-gas products from Bali in the period January-August this year, down 8.8 percent from US$121.7 million in the same period last year.
Shipments of various non-oil/non-gas products to Europe fluctuate but their biggest contribution to Bali`s foreign exchange income was in March 2010, namely US$19 million while the smallest was recorded in July at US$12 million.
European importers mostly order accessories like silver jewelry items with exotic designs which sold well in their countries. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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