VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt, Lutfi Rauf presented opportunities and potential for cooperation between Central Sulawesi Province -Sulteng, Indonesia and Egypt, particularly in the fields of economy, investment and trade.Based on the press release of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia -KBRI Cairo on Tuesday (15/10), Ambassador Lutfi Rauf in his presentation at the Central Sulawesi Governor's Office on Monday (14/10) pointed out that the trade relations between Indonesia and Egypt have been very well established. He also explained that there are  two factors that affect the good relations of both countries, first  because Egypt is a country on the African continent  which immediately recognized the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia after being proclaimed by Soekarno-Hatta. Second, it is because the majority of the Indonesian and Egyptian population is Islam. It accelerates business communication between business people of the two countries.

Moreover,  Trade Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo,  M. Syahran Bhakti pointed out Egypt is one of Indonesia's strategic trading partners in Africa. He also mentioned that in January-August 2024, the total trade between the two countries reached 1.09 billion US or around 15.7 trillion rupiah  with the value of Indonesia's exports to Egypt reaching 975.8 million US or around 15.2 trillion rupiah or an increase of 10.94 percent compared to the value of exports in the same period in 2023. Syahran further conveyed that the volume of Indonesian trade to Egypt has increased especially since the pandemic. Robusta coffee beans are the best-selling commodity and are in great demand. While Indonesia imports a lot of dates from Egypt.

Meanwhile, Acting Economic Function of the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo, Rifki Rustam Arsyad conveyed that there are  many opportunities for investment cooperation between Egypt and Indonesia that can be encouraged together, especially in the fields of plantations, tropical fruits  as well as fishery and seafood products.  Rifki also stated that the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo along with the Indonesian Investment Promotion Center in Abu Dhabi plans to promote investment in Cairo in November 2024.

Rifki hopes that with this meeting, the investment potential in Central Sulawesi can be promoted and attract Egyptian investors to enter Central Sulawesi.Acting Governor of Central Sulawesi, represented by Assistant II for Economic and Development Affairs, Rudi Dewanto, appreciated the visit of Ambassador Lutfi Rauf to bring bilateral relations of both countries closer in global trade and investment. The meeting was very appropriate to convey the potential of the Central Sulawesi region which was ready to be absorbed by the Egyptian market.

Rudi also said that the Central Sulawesi region is rich in potential commodities that might be wanted by Egypt,  such as coconut, coffee, rubber, durian, candlenut, vanilla, cloves, swallow's nest, frozen fish, vannamei shrimp, crabs, shells and natural gas. Of these commodities, coffee and coconut are prioritized for export to Egypt,  because Egypt's entry fee tariff is zero percent and is considered very profitable for Indonesia.