Foreign exhibitors shun RI

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign exhibition organizers are reluctant to hold exhibitions in Indonesia due to uncertainty about the country's situation, Herman Wiriadipoera head of the Association of Indonesian Exhibitor Companies (ASPERAPI) said on Saturday.

Instability in the past two years has contributed to an 80 percent drop in the exhibition business, he said, adding that most foreign exhibitors canceled their displays, some of which had been planned up to two years before, because of fears of possible social unrest and security problems.

He said that most of the exhibitions held in the country in the last two years were displaying electronics and household products.

" Out of the 75 exhibitions planned in Jakarta this year, international companies took part in only 15 of them," he said. (06)