Timor Leste is hoping to establish some kind of a trade deal with East Java, as the country is in dire need of affordable farming equipment and agricultural produce, a Timor Leste minister says.
The country's visiting minister for farming, fisheries and forestry Mariano Assanami Sabino told The Jakarta Post recently he had encouraged entrepreneurs in the province to export farming equipment to Timor Leste.
With the country currently having to pay high prices for equipment from Singapore and Malaysia, Sabino said his country was interested in purchasing equipment like tractors from Indonesia, and also in accommodating Indonesian businesses that might find it profitable to produce the equipment in Timor Leste.
"Our government is now exploring the possibility of a trade deal with East Java, as it would benefit the two countries," he said.
Sabino also encouraged East Java businessmen to boost commodity trade between the two nations.
"Entrepreneurs from East Java can provide us with eggs, while we have soybeans for them," said Sabino, who was accompanied by Timor Leste's minister of finance and development, Juao Gozales.
The vice president for small and medium-sized firms at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Nurhajati, said Timor Leste's interest should be followed up seriously.
"Further discussions will lead to an identification of possible investors and potential products. A memorandum of understanding for regulating export and import procedure, and taxation, could then follow," she said.
Currently, eggs from Indonesia are banned from entering Timor Leste because of the avian influenza outbreak.(lva)
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