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strong>INDONESIA: In line with steady growth in bilateral trade, more than 25 Zimbabwean business people will take part in the forthcoming 27th Trade Expo of Indonesia (TEI), an Indonesian envoy says.

“We are bringing more than 25 Zimbabweans to Indonesia this year as compared to last year’s 15,” Indonesian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Eddy Poerwana told Zimbabwe’s The Herald newspaper in Harare recently.

This year’s TEI, which has the theme “Trade with Remarkable Indonesia”, will be held from Oct. 17 to 21 at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran in Jakarta.

In the first six months of this year, bilateral trade between Indonesia and Zimbabwe was US$26.62 million, an increase of 261 percent from $7.37 million in the same period last year. Last year two-way trade stood at $32.48 million. Indonesia has been buying tobacco and cotton from Zimbabwe, while Harare has been buying palm oil, rubber, garments, shoes and electronic products from Jakarta.

“A group of Zimbabwean tobacco producers took part in the World Tobacco Asia 2012 Expo held recently in Jakarta,” Zimbabwean Ambassador to Indonesia Alice Mageza told The Jakarta Post.