RI-Thai fishery firms to cooperate

RI-Thai fishery firms to cooperate

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Fishery Companies Association is
now exploring opportunities for cooperation in the fishery
business with Thai entrepreneurs to boost fish exports in the
future, a prominent business leader says.

"We have received warm responses from Thai businessmen for
possible cooperation in the fishery business, including fish
netting operations and the processing and marketing of fish-
related products, during our meeting with executives of the
industry in Bangkok," the chairman of the association,
Sudwikatmono, told Antara news agency in Bangkok over the
weekend.

Some of them have even agreed to relocate their processing
plants to Indonesia in response to the association's demand for
investments in the country, he said.

He told Thai fishery business executives that the planned
relocation of their industrial activities in Indonesia will
benefit them because Indonesia has a large work force and labor
costs are relatively lower than in Thailand.

"Labor costs for the Thai fishery industry is about five times
of that in Indonesia," he added.

In turn, cooperation will also benefit the Indonesian industry
because Thailand has sophisticated technology in the processing
of fish, he said.

Thailand, which established its fishery industry long ago, has
also broader access to the international market through its
existing marketing channels, he said.

"We can tap their channels for the marketing of our products,"
he added. (fhp)