Local firms told to use fair for promotion

Local firms told to use fair for promotion

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno officially opened
yesterday the 29th Jakarta Fair in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta,
with a call to local companies to use the fair as arena to
promote their products.

"The fair can become a place for local companies to negotiate
with both domestic and foreign buyers," Try said.

Several cabinet ministers, including Coordinating Minister for
Production and Distribution Hartarto and Minister of Social
Services Inten Suweno and Governor Surjadi Soedirdja attended the
opening ceremony.

More than 2,500 state and private agencies and business
enterprises, including 18 foreign companies, are participating in
this year's fair.

The opening ceremony, dubbed modest, featured traditional
dances from West Sumatra, Kalimantan, Jakarta, East and West
Java. It also featured performances by the Jakarta Symphony
Orchestra and local singer Harvey Malaiholo.

The fair will be open from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to
Friday and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday
until July 14. Entry costs Rp 1,500 (65 U.S. cents) per person.

The city administration has held the fair since 1967 as one of
events commemorating Jakarta's anniversary.

The fair was first held on the 44-hectare plot in Kemayoran in
1992 after the administration decided to turn the Monumen
Nasional (Monas) park area in Central Jakarta, where the original
fair site was, into a green area.

This year the organizer, PT Jakarta International Trade Fair
Corporation, expects three millions people to visit the fair, an
increase from 1.95 million last year and 2.26 million in 1994.

To reach the target the organizer is presenting various
attractions such as Les Arts Sauts, a trapeze group from France,
and the Traveling World of Coca Cola, an exhibition of the 110-
year history of the soft drink.

The fair will also have a festival of fireworks, pop music, a
Qasidah (traditional Islamic music) contest, seminars, a writing
contest and various sports events such as a bike rides and a
walkathon.

The fair has become a place of seasonal employment to those
who seek part-time jobs, particularly students. The organizer
expects the fair will create 18,000 jobs this year.

"We plan to get part-time jobs in the fair during school
holidays. But, the management said that all jobs have been
filled. It's too bad," said Yuli, a high school student who
visited the organizer's office with her friends.

The fairground is also a temporary bonanza to signboard
makers, who get orders from the participating companies for their
booths.

"I have been helping my uncle in signboard designing since the
fair was held in Monas. We have many clients who pay between Rp
30,000 and Rp 200,000 per sign," Nana said. He said the
management only charges signboard makers a flat rate of Rp
15,000. Approximately 15 signboard makers offered their services
in the week before the fair opened yesterday. (yns)