By Rukayat Moisemhe
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Usra Harahap, has urged the Nigerian business community across several sectors to exploit the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2023 platform as a means to boost trade volume between both countries.
Harahap said this on Monday in Lagos at a briefing organised by the Embassy of Indonesia in Abuja, Indonesia Trade Promotion Centre and Nigeria Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) .
The Indonesia Ambassador said the Expo scheduled for October 18 to October 22, 2023 presents a unique platform for businesses worldwide thereby unlocking enhanced trade prospects and investment avenues.
According to him, the event, which will hold in BSD City, Tangerang, Indonesia will be a pivotal for fostering international economic collaboration,
He said the trade volume between Indonesia and Nigeria in 2022 stood at 4.78 billion dollars, total imports of Indonesia from Nigeria amounted to about 4.32 billion dollars while exports from Indonesia to Nigeria was only 459 million dollars.
Harahap said the figures reflected the high untapped potential of Indonesia and Nigeria trade, which could be further improved.
“In 2022, the TEI event attained a huge volume of trade to the tune of 15.8 billion dollars.
“We are confident that Nigeria as a strategic partner with Indonesia having a huge and rich market potential stands a better chance in 2023 to stake a higher trade volume than the previous year.
“This is also a call to other countries in the region to key into this opportunity and attract more business partnerships with Indonesia,” he said.
Harahap said that the TEI 2023 was a continuation from the previous edition which will further present seven product zones.
According to him, the seven products and services to be showcased included food and beverages, fashion, textiles and accessories, beauty and personal care, home living.
Others are medical equipment and healthcare, chemical, energy and industrial products, digital and services.
He said a series of business programs to create business networking opportunities would also be running parallel such as seminars, business matching and counselling among others.
“We are excited to welcome the business community not only in Nigeria but across other countries. In connection to this, we encourage the business community to register for the Expo.
“Completed registration would be followed by series of free business matching activities, visa acquisition procedures, weekly buyer interview sessions and briefings.
“Please visit https://www.tradexpoindonesia.com/,” he said.
Mr Ishmael Balogun, President, NICCI, said the trade expo would further deepen relations between both countries.
He noted that Nigeria and Indonesia have a lot in common in terms of population, culture, food, personalities and religion.
Balogun said doing business in Indonesia would promote trade balance between both countries.
NAN report