RI to open trading houses overseas

Indonesia plans to open a number of trading houses overseas to promote the country's agricultural commodities, Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih said.

Bungaran, in his speech at the opening of the Agro and Food Expo 2002 in Jakarta on Thursday, said the government would cooperate with the private sector to establish the trading houses.

The minister did not specify the locations, but after Bungaran's speech, Iskandar Andi Nuhung, the ministry's director general of processing and the marketing of agricultural products, told reporters that the houses would be established in the United States, China and Middle East.

He did not specify the timeframe for the opening of the houses.

Iskandar said Indonesia so far had only one trading house in Thailand, while Malaysia owns 22 trading houses overseas. -- JP