RI to open trading houses overseas

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