Kyongsangnam-do province eyes East Java business

JAKARTA (JP): East Java and Kyongsangnam-do province of South Korea have established a sister province relationship in an effort to promote closer business relations between the two provinces and their two countries in general.

"The purpose of the sister province relationship is to promote understanding and friendship at both national and regional levels," the chief of Kyongsangnam-do's Economy and Trade Bureau, Chang-Seung Kong, said.

Kong told journalists here yesterday that the agreement was signed in Surabaya, East Java, by the governors of both provinces, Basofi Soedirman of East Java and Hyuk-Kyu Kim of Kyongsangnam-do.

A 25-member business delegation from Kyongsangnam-do, led by Governor Kim, ended its mission here yesterday.

Kim noted that East Java and Kyongsangnam-do have a number of similarities. Both provinces, for example, serve as main producers of rice and main industrial sites in their countries.

In Surabaya, the Kyongsangnam-do delegation attended an investment forum to sound out the possibility of expanding business relations between the two provinces by increasing bilateral trade and investments.

Yesterday the delegation gave a presentation before Indonesian businesspeople on Kyongsangnam-do province's export capabilities.

According to Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics, bilateral trade between Indonesia and South Korea totaled US$5.3 billion last year, up from $4.6 billion in 1994. Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of $476 million last year and $427 million in 1994. (rid)