REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG - The Atapupu seaport in Belu district, East Nusa Tenggara, could become a border trade center for Indonesia and Timor Leste, an official said.

"Located at the border between East Nusa Tenggara and Timor Leste, the Atapupu port is very strategic as a border trade center for the two countries," local Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Chairman Abraham Paul Lyanto said here on Saturday. 

He noted that selling along the border should be strengthened in the interest of the residents in East Nusa Tenggara and Timor Leste. Lyanto added, if the port turned into a border trade center, it would increase trade for small and medium industrial products between the two countries.

"Therefore, we need government assistance to provide the people in Belu district with facilities and infrastructure at the Atapupu port," Lyanto noted.