A trade delegation from Indonesia visited several companies in Qatar on Sunday as part of an initiative to explore the country’s investment climate, an official of the Qatar-Indonesia Business Council (QIBC) said.

According to QIBC president Farhan al-Sayed, the Indonesian delegation visited Alfardan Jewellery and the “Indonesia Corner”, an initiative launched by the Indonesian Embassy in Qatar located at the Landmark Mall in Al Gharaffa.

“Qatar and Indonesia are working to enhance trade opportunities through regular trade delegation visits and exchanges in areas related to trade and investments, oil and gas, tourism, industries, fashion and jewellery, timber, furniture, tyres, and fruits and vegetables, among others,” al-Sayed told Gulf Times on Sunday.

Al-Sayed, who is also president of International Walking Football Federation-Asia, said Alfardan Jewellery’s director of sales Ashraf Mustafa received members of the delegation, including Fujie Wati of Fujie Pearls, which deals with South Sea pearls and pearl jewellery, and Lisa Kohar Abdullah, who specialises in timber, furniture, and building materials.

The delegation also visited the “Indonesia Corner”, a promotion booth launched in December 2019 by Indonesian ambassador Mohamed Basri Sidehabi at the main lobby of Landmark Mall. During yesterday’s visit, the delegation was joined by the spouses of the ambassadors of Rwanda and Mali, al-Sayed said.

Since its launch, the “Indonesia Corner” will run for three months and is open daily from 10am to 10pm, and 4pm to 10pm on Fridays. Sidehabi said the “Indonesia Corner” was an offshoot of the “Indonesia Expo 2019”, the first solo exhibition of Indonesian products in Qatar held in November last year.

According to the ambassador, the embassy will continuously intensify its promotion of Indonesia, especially in the fields of trade, tourism, and investment potential through direct engagement with the Qatari community.

Earlier, Sidehabi said that he is confident that relations between Qatar and Indonesia, especially in the economic field, would “strengthen from time to time.” He also hoped that Indonesia Expo 2019 and the establishment of the “Indonesia Corner” “would contribute to increasing the exchange of trade, tourist visits and investment between the two countries.”

Figures provided by Qatar Chamber showed that trade volume between Qatar and Indonesia increased by 154% to $877mn in 2018 from $346mn in 2017, in which Qatari exports to Indonesia increased by $728mn in 2018 and Indonesia’s exports to Qatar increased to $148mn in the same period.

Al-Sayed said that Indonesia is a G20 country “with a trillion dollar economy and the largest economy among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member countries.


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