Suara.com – Indonesian products exhibited at the 20th China-ASEAN EXPO (CAEXPO) managed to record potential transactions of IDR 106.45 billion. The potential transaction consists of direct sales amounting to IDR 1.69 billion and trade contracts reaching IDR 104.77 billion.
Director General of National Export Development at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag), Didi Sumedi, said that the value of this transaction proves that Indonesian products are able to compete amidst the onslaught of other countries in the global market. This is also evidence of the recovery of global purchasing power after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Apart from that, the transaction value has the potential to increase because there are still buyers who will follow up on several purchase transactions outside the exhibition,” said Didi Sumedi in his press statement on Tuesday, (26/9/2023).
CAEXPO 2023 is an exhibition of the results of agreements at the 7th ASEAN China Summit in October 2003, within the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) economic trade framework. This activity is Indonesia’s commitment to establishing trade and investment cooperation with China and other ASEAN countries.
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CAEXPO 2023 was attended by 1,953 companies from 46 countries. Of this number, 1,215 participants came from China, 644 participants came from ASEAN, and 94 from other countries. During the offline event, CAEXPO was visited by more than 15,000 people.
At this exhibition, Indonesia presents 2 pavilions, consisting of the Commodity Pavilion which occupies an area of 2,160 m2 in hall D15 and the National Pavilion (City of Charm) with an area of 160 square meters in Hall B2.
During the exhibition, processed food became Indonesia’s favorite product and took first place in transactions at CAEXPO 2023 with a value reaching IDR 96.10 billion or 90.28% of total transactions. Other Indonesian products that have succeeded in attracting buyers’ attention include consumer goods amounting to IDR 8.95 million (8.41%), fashion and accessories amounting to IDR 706.74 million (0.66%), furniture amounting to IDR 358.52 million (0.34% ), and home decorations amounting to IDR 333.30 million (0.31%).
This exhibition will be held in a hybrid manner, namely offline on 16-19 September 2023 and online until September 2024 via the CAEXPO platform.
Didi revealed that participation in CAEXPO 2023 is in line with Indonesia’s export increase strategy. To win non-oil and gas exports in the Chinese market, one way is to increase the differentiation of products offered. Currently, the majority of Indonesia’s main export commodities to China come from mining products and palm oil (Crude Palm Oil/CPO). For this reason, the Indonesian Commodity Pavilion at CAEXPO this year is present by exhibiting various potential products in four zones, namely food and beverages; fashion accessories and jewelry; furniture and home decoration; as well as consumer goods, spa, herbal and beauty.
“At this CAEXPO exhibition, we are bringing products that have great potential to boost transactions in China. Some of these products are swallow’s nests, furniture, jewelry products, crafts, fashion and processed food. “We also carry products introduced for the Chinese market, such as vanilla, tapioca flour and tempeh,” explained Didi.
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Furthermore, the Director of Primary Product Export Development, Merry Maryati, explained that the City of Charm Pavilion was filled by the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government which displays cultural characteristics with the theme of the Betang traditional house, highlighting the potential for investment, trade and tourism, as well as presenting Central Kalimantan art and culture.
At this exhibition, the Indonesian Commodity Pavilion was attended by 49 business actors who appeared independently. Apart from that, this pavilion also displays 49 fostered business actors from 11 state-owned companies, as well as 8 showcase stands for potential products from Central Kalimantan Province.
“We should be proud of the cultural diversity in Indonesia, various artistic, cultural attractions and typical fashion shows from the Central Kalimantan government have succeeded in attracting visitors to the Indonesian Pavilion. “It is hoped that other provincial governments will also participate in the event,” added Merry.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, the Ministry of Trade collaborated with the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing to explore business cooperation (business matching) on Monday (18/9/2023). In this activity, the Ministry of Trade facilitated a meeting of 11 exhibitors with 36 Chinese buyers.
Apart from that, the Indonesian Pavilion also held a Promotion Conference of Central Kalimantan Province to provide an overview of the tourism, investment and trade potential of Central Kalimantan. This activity was attended by more than 50 participants consisting of representatives of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government Delegation, Central Kalimantan Province, business associations, and potential buyers.
“Indonesia-China bilateral relations have lasted for 73 years. “With the emergence of Central Kalimantan Province, it is hoped that it can have a long-term positive impact by developing the tourism and economic sectors,” said Merry.
On the last day, (19/9/2023), the Ministry of Trade also facilitated the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between PT Azaki Food Internasional and Guangxi Hefaxing Trading co. ltd. In this MoU, Chinese companies will import frozen tempeh, instant tempeh and tempeh chips from Indonesia.
“Buyers see the potential of tempeh as a food for vegetarian consumers in China. “We are proud that Indonesian tempe products have succeeded in penetrating the export market through CAEXPO 2023. The signing of this MOU shows that CAEXPO 2023 is the right platform to introduce Indonesian products to the Chinese market in particular, and ASEAN in general,” concluded Merry.