Indonesian textile exporters association (API) Ade Sudrajat said Tuesday that Indonesia's textile and textile products (TPT) export growth is expected to be zero this year because of the financial crisis in the United States, and the United States is the main export market for Indonesia.

He said that in the first half of this year, TPT exports declined, though the magnitude of the slide was not too large.

In January, however, exports fell by about 8% in -5 months.

In 2007, Indonesia's TPT exports reached 9 billion 800 million US dollars, up 3.8% from 2006.

Indonesia's TPT exports fell in the first 5 months of 2008, which is expected.

Almost all countries that export TPT to the United States share the same fate.

Because of the weakness of the US market, China even raised the export tax rebate of TPT from 7% to 11%.

He said Indonesia's TPT exports will not drop sharply because of the expansion of Japan's demand, the Indonesian Japan economic cooperation agreement will help expand Indonesia's exports.

Exports in the first half of the year are still up to $5 billion, and exports to Japan are expected to grow by 10%.

Meanwhile, the proportion of the domestic market expanded at the beginning of the year, but the government decided to raise fuel prices, which is not conducive to the development of the domestic market.

In 2007, the domestic market share was 22%.

Major changes may take place this year, and Chinese goods flow into the domestic market in large quantities, as China has increased the export tax rebates for TPT.