RI, Pakistan to boost trade

JAKARTA :Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi and Pakistani Minister of Commerce Humuyun Akhtar Khan have agreed to boost trade between the two countries through countertrade, a senior official said.

The agreement was reached in a meeting in Brussels last week.

Pos M. Hutabarat, director general for industrial cooperation and international trade at the ministry, said on Tuesday that top officials from the two countries would soon meet to further discuss the planned countertrade.

"Ibu Rini has proposed crude palm oil products to be included in countertrade, while Pakistan may include its jute products," he said.

Indonesia imports jute, a raw material for gunnysacks, from Pakistan. -- JP