Indonesian textile exports has reached $697.5 million in the first two months of this year as per the Trade Ministry statistics and is expected to speedy increase during this year with exports order flowing in from United States and larger orders will also be coming from the EU with the start of trade talks between the EU and Indonesia.

Indonesia and 28 EU members have planned to take up again talks on a thorough economic partnership agreement after several delays due to various purposes. The deal is expected to triple Indonesia’s textile exports within five years.

This growth will be significant as Indonesian textile products have lost its market share in Europe in recent years, plummeting from 1.09 percent in 2007 to 0.89 percent in 2013.

According to the Indonesian Textile Association (API) the domestic textile manufacturer’s aim for textile exports to reach US$13.3 billion this year, as demands from the US begins to pick up following the country’s economic recovery. They have put a moderate growth target considering the current global economic situation.

Indonesian textile exports accounted $12.68 billion in 2013, up only 1.76 percent from a year earlier, as demand curved in considerable. Its shares to global textile exports stood at 1.8 percent.

The US, the top export market for Indonesian, purchased textile products worth $4.1 billion. Indonesian share in the US market throughout last year was 4.9 percent.

Japan and Turkey were in the second and third position with purchase orders of $1.18 billion and $620 million, respectively.

Japan will continue to boost exports this year due to the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJ-EPA) which has increased Indonesia’s share in the Japanese market from 1.76 percent in 2007 to 3.38 percent in 2013.

Other traditional markets, such as Middle East and African countries, would also help drive exports.

Apart from textile exports, this year the Indonesian textile association sees growth in sales at the domestic market by 7 percent to $7.5 billion.