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)