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Thailand is to promote the role of its small and medium
enterprises so as to increase its trade with Indonesia.
As part of the promotion, a wide range of products, including food and
beverages, beauty and healthcare products, gifts and decorative items,
and stationery and toys will be displayed during a four-day exhibition
at the Jakarta Convention Center that is set to run from Thursday
through Sunday.
"I believe that food and beverages, sugar, tapioca, cars and
motorcycles are prospective products for sale in Indonesia," Supawadee
Yamgamol, the commercial affairs attache at the Thai Embassy, told a
press conference Tuesday.
Latest figures show that Indonesia's imports from Thailand declined
from US$4 billion in 2005 to $3.3 billion in 2006. Among the main
products imported from Thailand are rice, sugar, food and beverages.
Supawadee said that she hoped the exhibition, the second one to be held
in Indonesia, would be as successful as the first one, which was held
in Jakarta in 2005. The exhibition is being organized by the Thai
government in collaboration with Indonesia's Trade Ministry.
"The expo in 2005 was a success, with more than 5,000 businesspeople
and around 10,000 Indonesian visitors attending it," said Supawadee.
The previous exhibition, she said, had resulted in orders worth
$600,000.
While the two ASEAN countries have had official trade ties for more
than five decades, Thailand is only Indonesia's ninth biggest trading
partner, while Indonesia is Thailand's 10th biggest trading partner.
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