... really understand the quality of the Indonesian products... "London (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Muslim apparel has attracted Moroccan consumers and visitors in an exhibition on Indonesia`s handicraft products held in Rabat, Morocco, April 29 - May 5, an Indonesian official said.
Coordinator of the Indonesian Advertisement Agencies Association (PPI) in Morocco Kusnadi El-Ghezwa told ANTARA here on Sunday that European and African consumers recognized the quality of Indonesian Muslim apparel in the exhibition.
The exhibition was attended by Moroccan government officials and companies from various countries such as Russia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Palestine, France, Spain and European countries.
In the exhibition which was held for the first time, Indonesia displayed various types of goods, including traditional handicraft products such as clothing, foot wear, batik clothes, ornaments, furniture, paper, wood-based products, tea, coffee, instant noodle and spice.
Event coordinator Decy Widhiyanti said Indonesia sent 20 businessmen from various provinces to the exhibition because Moroccan consumers and visitors from various countries were very enthusiastic and recognized the quality of Indonesian products.
Widhiyanti said that for Moroccan citizens prices did not matter even if the Indonesian products were relatively expensive.
"They really understand the quality of the Indonesian products. A number of local producers and designers visited the Indonesian stand and cooperate with Indonesian businessmen," she said.
Sarah, one of the visitors from Marrakesh, was very enthusiastic with the Indonesian products. She spent all her money to purchase all stocks of an Indonesian stand owned by Ayu Indriati from Bekasi, West Java.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), two-way trade between Morocco and Indonesia was US$150.13 million in the first seven months of 2012, up 80.19 percent from $83.32 million in the same period a year earlier.
Phosphates accounted for around $70 million of the $152.44 million in products that Morocco exported to Indonesia in 2011.
Indonesia's major exports to Morocco comprise coffee, tea, electronic goods, rubber and textiles.
Morocco, which has the fifth-largest economy in Africa, is home to 75 percent of the world`s reserves of phosphates, which Indonesia needs to manufacture fertilizer.
With an annual per capita income of $5,100, Morocco is considered a medium-sized market of 32 million people.
However, Morocco could become a base for Indonesia to enter larger markets of the European Union (EU) and North Africa, according to Moroccan Ambassador to Indonesia Mohamed Majdi, as reported by the Jakarta Post some time ago.
"We have signed free trade agreements with the US, the EU and Turkey. Indonesian companies can establish production bases [in Morocco] and export their goods to the US and the EU freely," Majdi said.
"Morocco is a gateway to Europe," he added.
On Africa-Indonesia relations, Foreign Ministry information and public diplomacy chief Abdurrahman M. Fachir said that there were no hurdles.
"We don`t have political problems with African countries, but it will be a big task as to how to translate these good relations into concrete cooperation," Abdurrahman said.
Morocco, a tolerant Sunni Muslim-majority state, recently won kudos in a study on religious freedoms in various countries conducted by the US State Department. Religious minorities, such as Jewish and Christian people, have the freedom of worship in the nation.
"There are no prohibitions on religious clothing or symbols, in either the public or the private spheres," the report said.
(A014/B003)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
