RI, Uzbekistan sign deal

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia (central bank) has signed an agreement with the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to support bilateral trade.

The Indonesian embassy in Tashkent announced yesterday the agreement was signed in Tashkent last Tuesday by Bank Indonesia managing director Paul Sutopo Tjokronegoro and the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, MB Nurmuradov.

They agreed to support trade relations between both countries, exchange banking information and encourage commercial banks to open representative offices in each country.

Economic relations between the countries were encouraged when Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov visited Indonesia in 1992, and when President Soeharto visited Uzbekistan in 1995. (jsk)