U.S. opens trade office

U.S. opens trade office

JAKARTA (JP): The United States embassy has opened an
agricultural trade office in Jakarta to promote export sales and
provide information for importers wanting to buy U.S.
agricultural products.

August Schumacher, the administrator of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, said yesterday
Indonesia was the 11th largest market for U.S. agricultural
products.

In the last fiscal year the U.S. exported US$908 million worth
of farm products to Indonesia. This represented a three-fold
increase in just five years.

Most U.S. agricultural exports to Indonesia are bulk
commodities like cotton, wheat and soybeans.

"Over the past five years, U.S. sales of consumer foods to
Indonesia have skyrocketed from $27 million to $86 million,"
Schumacher said.

He said the U.S. was also increasing its exports of red meat,
poultry, fresh fruit, processed fruit and vegetables.

The U.S. is also a growing agricultural market for Indonesia.
In the 1995/1996 fiscal year, Indonesia exported over $2 billion
worth of agricultural goods, fish, forestry products, rubber,
cocoa, spices, coffee, fruits and vegetables to the U.S.

The U.S. now has 16 agricultural trade offices operated by the
Foreign Agricultural Service.

The new office is at Wisma Metropolitan II, Third Floor, Jl.
Jendral Sudirman Kav. 29-31, Jakarta. (pwn)