Italy boosts ties with RI

JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of 27 Italian companies will visit Indonesia from June 11 to June 14 to strengthen bilateral trade relations, the Italian trade commission said here yesterday.

Trade commissioner Michela Branca said the delegation would meet officials of the Investment Coordinating Board and members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to explore investment and joint cooperation possibilities.

The 27 companies are engaged in the industrial and consumer goods sectors.

Branca also said another 22 textile machinery producers from Italy would participate in the Bandung Tex '97 fair, from July 3 to July 7, in Bandung, West Java.

He said the Italian companies hoped to strengthen their position as the main textile machinery suppliers to Indonesia.

He said 70 percent of the textile industry in Indonesia, mostly in Bandung and Jakarta, used Italian machinery and the companies' sales to Indonesia had increased to US$38 million in 1995 from $18 million in 1991. (jsk)