Minister opens China business expo

Minister opens China business expo

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi urged China's
manufacturers to maintain the quality of their products and after
sales service when exporting them to this country.

She said that there have been complaints about the low quality
of "made in China" products being sold here, pointing out as an
example of growing public complaints about Chinese-made
motorcycles due to a lack of after-sales service and supply of
spare parts.

Rini was speaking on Saturday at the opening of a four-day
China Engineering and Technology Fair, held at the Jakarta
Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The Indonesian market has been flooded with inexpensive
electronics and other manufacturing products from China, which
compete with more expensive Japanese and South Korean brands.

Rini also expected the exhibition would facilitate exchange of
know-how, experience and expertise between businessmen of the
countries.

She also invited Chinese industrialists and businessmen at the
exhibition to explore the opportunity of investing through joint
venture with Indonesian companies as the country's economy
continues to recover.

The China Technology and Engineering Fair, which features
petrochemical products, telecommunications, highway construction
techniques, coal mining and machinery, is the first to be held in
Southeast Asia. Previously, the same fair was held in India,
Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Sun Qianyuan, a deputy director at China's Ministry of
Commerce, said that they were planning to hold a similar fair in
Germany next year.

Among the more than 60 participating companies, mostly state-
owned enterprises, are China Telecom, China National Offshore Oil
Corporation (CNOOC), and China Railway Construction Corporation
(CRCC).

The Chinese mission is led by the assistant Minister of
Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Chen Jian.

Shen Weihe, commercial marketing department officer from CNOOC
-- which controls about 80 percent of offshore oil industry in
China -- told The Jakarta Post that his company was interested in
investing in Indonesia's offshore oil sector.

He added that CNOOC was ready to share its experience in the
oil business with local firms.

"In the coming years, we're sure we can establish new projects
here," he said.

Next to the expo, there was also the China Export Products
Fair 2003 -- which was also held for the very first time here
this year -- displaying fabric, footwear, electronics, farming
machinery and more.

According to Rini, the total trade between Indonesia and China
has doubled from US$2.7 billion in 1998 to $5.3 billion in 2002,
increasing by about 16.77 percent annually.

This year, from January to July, total trade had increased by
29.21 percent. Indonesian exports to China rose by 23.85 percent,
while Indonesian imports from China increased by 36.19 percent.