Aussie directory to be launched

JAKARTA (JP): A new directory listing some 250 Australian companies and joint ventures operating in Indonesia will be launched by Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan at the Australian Ambassador's residence in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The Millennium edition Australian Directory of Business in Indonesia, which will also include 60 Indonesian and Australian- based services, reflects the growing trade and economic relations between the two countries in spite of the economic crisis.

The list of companies in the new book shows a 10 percent increase over the previous 1997 edition.

"Our aim has been to make the directory a relevant, practical and helpful business tool," Austrade's Senior Trade Commissioner in Jakarta Bruce Wallace said in a statement.

The aim was for the directory to help the networking between Australian and Indonesian companies in building stronger commercial partnership, Wallace said.

Two-way trade between the two countries rose by 4.5 percent period in 1997/98 to A$5.6 billion (US$3.7 billion), with Indonesia running a surplus, according to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.

The directory, published by PT Citra Buana Masindo in cooperation with the Australian Trade Commission, was compiled by the Gold Group of Australia and Masindo.(02)