Indonesia and Chile form business council

Indonesia and Chile form business council

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Chile opened yesterday a business
council as part of their long-term plan to boost bilateral trade.

Chile's ambassador to Indonesia, Hernan Tassara, said he hoped
the newly formed Indonesia-Chile Business Council would help the
two countries minimize trade barriers.

Tassara said his country, which practiced an open economy,
would continue to improve its economic policy to facilitate
international trade.

"Chile is also a member of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation) like Indonesia, which wants to encourage economic
growth through trade liberalization," he said at the inauguration
of the business council.

It will provide the organizational framework to encourage
trade, industry and information exchange on business
opportunities and problems.

He said the council had big responsibilities, considering the
dynamic economies of Indonesia and Chile and the immense
potential of the two nations to expand bilateral economic and
business ties.

Trade between the two countries has so far favored Chile.
Indonesia's exports to Chile reached US$88.1 million last year,
while imports from Chile totaled over $300 million or about three
times the amount of Chile last year.

Sutara Martadisastra, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin), which has bilateral committees
with American countries, said the trade deficit between Indonesia
and Chile posed no serious problem.

"It can be tackled if Indonesian businesses are more active in
entering Chile," he said, adding there were a lot of
opportunities in Chile to increase Indonesian exports.

Indonesia's main exports to Chile include kitchenware, dinner
ware, textiles, garments, electronics and rubber, while
Indonesia's imports include fish meal and suitcases.

"A lot of our products have great potential in Chile's market,
but we have to discuss the barriers which hamper exports first,"
he said.

Secretary general of the ministry of industry and trade, Aidil
Juzar, said ideally Indonesian trade promotion centers should be
handled privately to make their organization more active.

"The government always welcomes Kadin's offer to handle the
trade promotion centers," he said. (08)