INDONESIA HAS OPPORTUNITIES TO CONTROL ASIA-PACIFIC MARKET FOR COAL.

For the period of 1993-1997, the volume of Indonesia's coal exports grew rapidly at an average annual rate of 23.5% from 18.74 million tons in 1993 to 42.29 million tons in 1997, or by an average of 5.9 million tons annually. For the first nine months of 1998, the volume of such exports reached 32.22 million tons, making it possible to estimate the figure for all of the year at 43 million tons, up by only 1.7% from the previous year.

Despite the relatively slow growth, Indonesia managed to secure an 18% share of the global market for coal in 1998, making it the world's