VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy (Bekraf) will establish sister cafe cooperation between several Indonesian coffeehouses and coffee shops in the United States to open international markets for Indonesian coffee brands and cafe brands abroad.

"Sister cafe cooperation in the United States is being built by organizing a roadshow for promoting KOPI in order to develop foreign markets," Bekraf`s Deputy Marketing Joshua P.M. Simandjuntak had noted at a press conference in Jakarta, on Friday (Apr 6).

"This cooperation is expected to facilitate the owners of coffee brands and cafe brands in the country to develop markets abroad and open a branch in the United States," he explained, adding that every state in the United States and Canada have their respective rules, such as how to establish a coffee shop, coffee quality standards, and business development.

Several owners of coffee brands, cafe brands, and a financial institution owned by the Indonesian government, Indonesia Eximbank will participate in the road show to be held on April 13-24, 2018. They will visit cafes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle in the United States and Vancouver in Canada to gain insight into the local coffee businesses on the challenges and opportunities to open and market Indonesian coffee brands and caf? brands in these cities.

Meanwhile, Managing Director II of Indonesia Eximbank Indra Wijaya Supriadi remarked that the cooperation between Indonesian and US coffee shops held significance to face the challenges of developing business overseas.

"One of the benefits of this cooperation is that the business risks can be borne by both parties," he pointed out.

He expressed hope that at least one Indonesian coffee shop brand would be established in the United States, Canada, or other countries this year. At the commemoration of International Coffee Day at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on October 1, 2017, President Joko Widodo expressed support for the nation's coffee industry. The International Coffee Organization had ranked Indonesia as the world`s fourth-largest coffee exporter for the 2016-2017 period, with 6,891,000 packs of the commodity, each weighing 60 kilograms, or a total of about 413,460,000 kilograms.