The Festival Indonesia 2017 is expected to have tangible results to increase investment from Russia and Indonesian exports to the country, as well as increasing the number of Russian tourists to Indonesia.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Embassy in Moscow will again host the Festival Indonesia this year as part of economic diplomacy efforts to promote superior products and the potential of Indonesia.

Preparation is now underway for the festival, scheduled for August 4 to 6, 2017, in order to be of a great success, according to Ridwan Hassan, the foreign affairs ministers expert staff in the field of economic diplomacy.

Hassan made the statement in a coordination meeting in preparation for the Festival Indonesia 2017 in Moscow.

Present at the coordination meeting were around 140 representatives from numerous companies and business associations engaged in various fields, such as crafts, culinary, fashion, agriculture and horticulture commodities, logistics, and tourism.

The Festival Indonesia 2017 is expected to have tangible results to increase investment from Russia and Indonesian exports to the country, as well as increasing the number of Russian tourists to Indonesia.

"The magnitude of the opportunities in Moscow for Indonesia is seen from Indonesian exports to Russia which have increased significantly in the last two years," Hassan remarked.

According to him, the upcoming Festival Indonesia this year in Moscow is the second of its kind after the first one in August 2016 which was a mixture of entertainment events including cultural performances from five different regions in Indonesia.

Exhibitions during the festival last year featured a traditional wedding ceremony, a show demonstrating Indonesias leading fashion designers and a classical Javanese shadow puppet theater.

The festival displayed products ranging from handicrafts to furniture and also offered traditional food and drinks, yoga, palm-reading and other activities over the course of two days from August 20-21, 2016.

Wahid Supriyadi, the Indonesian ambassador to Russia, explained that the Indonesia Festival 2017 in Moscow could be visited by around 90,000 people.

The Festival Indonesia this year to promote superior products of Indonesia will be enlivened by among other things, business forum, products exhibition, Indonesian arts and cultural performances, and information services on Indonesia.

Indonesia and Russia have made every effort to expand cooperation in various fields, particularly to increase trade between both nations.

The economic cooperation between the two countries complements each other and gets closer and closer after the leaders established national priorities regarding social and economic developments for the next ten years.

At present, Indonesia and Russia actively cooperate in the fields of civil aviation, mining, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, development of transport infrastructure, industrial chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

A number of new areas of cooperation have become priorities in bilateral relations between the two countries and are expected to boost the two countries trade volume.

Among the cooperation fields are oil and gas, aviation, aerospace, maritime and shipping, agriculture, satellite technology and communications systems, high-technology and banking.

The stronger economic relations between Indonesia and Russia offer new opportunities for Russias technology projects and commodities to enter the Indonesian market.

The Russia-Indonesia Business Council held the Russia-Indonesia Business Forum in October 2016 in Jakarta to discuss those mutually beneficial opportunities.

The main purpose of this forum was to bridge the information gap between business circles of both countries amidst the economic turbulence and destabilization of the global economy, Russia-Indonesia Business Council CEO Mikhail Kuritsyn said at the time.

The presidents of both countries had met on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN Summit 2016 in Sochi in May.

The current world economic development clearly shows that cooperation, when carried out in an open way, can boost competitiveness and improve the investment climate.

These two things guarantee the sustainability of economic development of every country, not just Russia and Indonesia.

During the ASEAN-Russia Summit in May 2016, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral meeting to discuss efforts to expand cooperation in various fields, especially to increase trade between both nations.

President Jokowi at the time lauded his Russian counterpart Putin for the well-established cooperation between the two nations.

According to Jokowi, the bilateral relations between Russia and Indonesia have grown stronger and are based on the values of friendship, equality, mutual respect, and understanding.

"We realize that the potential for further cooperation can be developed. We can take the cooperation to a higher level, not only bilateral but also in regional or global forums," Jokowi asserted.

Moreover, President Putin also praised Indonesias efforts. Putin affirmed that the cooperation between Russia and Indonesia was blooming and includes the new development sectors.

Putin expressed his optimism of the bilateral trade which increased by 14 percent during the first three months in 2016.

"We paid special attention to prospects for the development of trade. After a certain downturn in the volume of trade last year, positive dynamics have emerged this year: during the first three months of the year, the volume of bilateral trade increased by nearly 14 percent. I am sure that it is within our power not only to maintain this pace, but also to provide an additional impulse to the further development of our business ties," the Russian president noted at the time.

The two countries also agreed to boost Russian investment in Indonesia, particularly in the fields of maritime, infrastructure, oil and gas, energy, and electricity.

Putin also noted that Russia was ready to provide all necessary assistance to its Indonesian partners for implementing infrastructure projects.(*)

Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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