Fri, 28 Apr 2000

Indonesia joins trade displays in Japan, Singapore

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian businessmen will join an international trade fair in Osaka, Japan. It will be held from April 29 to May 4 in order to promote local products on the Japanese market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade office said on Thursday.

About 34 companies, organized by National Agency for Export Development and Jakarta Regional Chamber of Trade and Industry, will display their products in the exhibition -- wooden and leather handicrafts, batik clothes, traditional furniture, and many others.

In another event, Indonesian flower producers, including CV Una Kreasi Persada, PT Putri Sekar Kencana, Adipurayasa Abadi and PT Margriet Embroidery & Craft, are participating in the Tokyo International Flower Show 2000, which is held from April 27 to April 30.

The Japanese government assisted Indonesian exhibitors by subsidizing the rental of their stands for the exhibition.

Latest data shows that Indonesian non-oil-and-gas exports to Japan have increased to US$5.69 billion in 1999, from $5.33 billion in 1998, while Indonesian imports from that country amounted to $2.89 billion in 1999, down from $4.27 billion in 1998.

In a related development, more than 20 Indonesian companies operating in the telecommunications and information technology (IT) industry will be participating in Singapore's trade exhibition, CommunicAsia2000, June 6 through June 9. It is being organized by Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd.

The event at Singapore's new exhibition center at Changi will include big names like Lucent Technologies, Ericsson and Motorola.

PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) will be the largest participating company from Indonesia. They've rented 54 square meters of exhibition space, Singapore Exhibition marketing communications manager Rebecca Lee Wai Ling told a press conference on Thursday.

The telecommunications company will introduce two of its newest satellite technologies at the exhibition, Palapa DigiBouquet and Palapa Net for internet access via satellite, Satelindo general manager for satellite marketing Kanaka Hidayat said.

"We hope to grab the market in Asia through this event," he added.

The expo is expected to attract more than 30,000 trade visitors this year as opposed to the 25,068 last year, Lee Wai Ling said.

The visitor count from Indonesia is expected to reach at least 2,000 this year. At last year's event there were 1,007 trade visitors from Indonesia, she said.

Almost 2,000 companies from 54 countries will participate.

"The fact that businesses are not only coming back but coming back in even larger numbers shows how important the show is to them," she said. (07/10)