RI hosts solo expo in Sharjah to boost trade with Mideast

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For years, the cordial relations between Indonesia and the Middle East have been mainly based on two things: religion and trade.

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, and the Middle East region is the birthplace of Islam. Arab traders have been visiting this archipelago and other areas in southeastern Asia for centuries.

In an effort to boost its existing trade with Middle Eastern countries, Indonesia -- Southeast Asia's largest economy which exports more than 3,000 items to Middle East -- is currently hosting the biggest solo trade exhibition at the Sharjah Export Center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

After all, trade is the backbone of a strong relationship between two friendly countries.

The Indonesia Solo Exhibition (ISE), the biggest in the region, was opened on Sept. 19 and will end on Friday. It is featuring products and services from more than 300 Indonesian companies.

"Actually, the Indonesia Solo Exhibition was supposed to be opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before his planned visit to the Middle East (was canceled)," the UAE's Ambassador to Indonesia Yousif Rashid AlSharhan told The Jakarta Post.

President Susilo canceled his visit to Middle Eastern countries recently but met some of the Arab leaders during the recent United Nations Summit in New York.

Started three years ago, the annual event has been gaining prominence in promoting Indonesian goods in the region from year to year.

"Events like the ISE provide us not only with information about our export markets but also facilitate better interaction with our overseas customers," Indonesia's National Agency for Export Development (NAFED) manager Rhenald Kasali told the Gulf News newspaper in Sharjah during the inauguration of the ISE.

The UAE's business leader also commended the ISE.

"The Indonesia Solo Exhibition is now an established sourcing platform for Indonesian goods and services in the region," Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Ahmad Mohammad Al Midfa said.

Indonesia's exports to the oil-rich Middle East constitute 6 percent of its total exports of over US$60 billion. There is still a lot of potential to perhaps double the trade figures in the coming years through events like ISE.

For example, Indonesia's exports to UAE reached $744.62 million in 2004. Saudi Arabia imported $418 million worth of goods from Indonesia and Qatar bought $34 million goods from this country last year.

The UAE, a regional financial and services hub, employs 45,000 Indonesian workers. Indonesia supplies 35 percent of the wood and plywood needed by the UAE's booming construction sector.