50 Indonesian businessmen to attend Cairo's inter-African trade fair: Amb.

CAIRO – 11 December 2018: Indonesia's Ambassador to Egypt Helmy Fauzy said that 50 Indonesian businessmen and 19 companies will participate in the inter-African trade fair that is set to be held in Cairo from December 11 to 17.

Three state-owned companies and 16 private sector companies, including 10 companies working in food products, will participate in the fair, Fauzy said in a press conference on Sunday.

Egypt is one of the most important partners of Indonesia in Africa, Fauzy said, noting that both countries have a long history of bilateral cooperation.

Fauzy also revealed that the volume of trade between the two countries reached $1.5 billion in 2017. He explained that the most significant Indonesian exports to Egypt include coffee, rubber and paper products, while Indonesia imports phosphate, dates and citrus from Egypt.

The Indonesian ambassador added that 60 percent of coffee in Egypt comes from Indonesia.

The companies participating in the fair will present various types of products in different realms such as food, tourism and even defense, where an Indonesian company participated in Egypt's international Defense Expo (EDEX 2018) which was held in Cairo a few days ago.

Fauzy pointed out that the Indonesian Embassy facilitated last October the participation of 75 Egyptian businessmen in the annual exhibition of Indonesian exports, adding that six companies won prestigious awards that were handed to them by the Indonesian president.

He said that the Egyptian companies held deals during the exhibition worth $78.4 million, with an increase of 41 percent from 2017.

Fauzy said that Egypt is one of the most important markets for Indonesia in Africa, especially as it is the third largest country in terms of population after Nigeria and Ethiopia, adding that Egypt is the largest importer among African countries.

Egypt can be the gateway of Indonesian products to Europe, Asia and even America due to its strategic location that links continents through the Suez Canal.

Fauzy told Egypt Today that the number of Indonesian tourists in Egypt may increase up to 10 percent; the current number of tourists amounts to 50,000, adding that this is a low number as there are 80 million Indonesian tourists around the world.