Visitors to the 31st Indonesia Trade Expo are sounding out the possibility of buying Indonesian products they consider to be of good quality.
Visiting the Trade Expo on Wednesday, Syrian Mohammed Khair Hadiaf said he was looking for Indonesia-manufactured pharmaceuticals.
“I work in the medical sector and my specialty is cancer. I came here to seek more information about Indonesia’s medical technology and products,” he told us through a translator application on Wednesday when he visited a booth at the expo, held at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) venue in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, from Oct.12 to Oct.16 . It was the first time Hadiaf had come to Indonesia.
In another booth, Palestinian Shokri Zahedah and an Iranian calling himself only Amir were looking for snacks and sweets they could sell in their respective countries. Shokri and Amir frequently visit Southeast Asia to buy products from countries in the region, including Malaysia, but it was the first time they had looked at Indonesian products.
“You have good products. In Iran, snacks mainly come from Malaysia. Indonesian products need more promotion,” Amir said. He said if he found interesting products he would return on Thursday to make a deal.
The Foreign Ministry through its diplomatic missions invited 1,200 potential buyers from 70 countries to the expo, including those from small countries.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said 225 buyers from Middle Eastern countries attended the expo, followed by African and South Asian countries, which sent 49 buyers each, Eastern Europe ( 48 ), Afghanistan ( 42 ), Palestine ( 42 ), Latin America ( 35 ) and Fiji ( 22 ).
Poor communication skills appeared to be the biggest obstacle for buyers from small countries to make deals at the Trade Expo. Most of them could not speak English well while the expo lacked liaison officers who can speak foreign languages besides English, especially Arabic.