VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Moscow, Russia will hold Festival Indonesia 2018 on 3-5 August. The festival scheduled to be held at Krasnaya Presnya Park in Presnensky District, Moscow will be presenting different concepts with the previous Festival Indonesia.

“…The festival will take place for 3 to 5 hours from 12 o’clock PM until 9 o’clock PM nonstop. It will highlight art and culture. In addition, we will also hold market display. This is different from the previous festivals of every region. Now, we make per cluster. Take for example, there is Batik and then there is handicraft, there is culinary that will be provided until 9 PM and the art performance will depend on donations from every region,” Indonesian Ambassador to Russia, Wahid Supriyadi in his press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta, Friday (23 February).

Ambassador Wahid Supriyadi further said that in relation to the performance of Indonesian arts, so far he has not been able to confirm any areas that will appear in Festival Indonesia 2018. But he said, based on experience, Malang, East Java, and Boyolali, Central Java are the regions that are never absent to present art performances at the Festival Indonesia in Moscow. Festival Indonesia 2018 is the third one held by Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Moscow. Festival of Indonesia itself each year is considered to continue to have a positive impact for Indonesia. Positive impacts include an increase in total trade by 25.2% with Russia and an increase in the number of Russian tourists coming to Indonesia by 37.28% in the period from January to November 2017. (VOI/Rezha/Trans by Rhm)

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia, Wahid Supriyadi told in a press conference at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Friday (February 23) that in future, Indonesia and Russia will be connected by direct flights. However, when asked about what airlines to serve the route, he is still not able to provide information. Ambassador Wahid Supriyadi also said that Indonesia's exports, especially fresh fruit exports, will be greatly facilitated by this direct flight.

“…Regarding to the airlines, I still cannot reveal it, but there has been already request and I have disclosed it to Jakarta. Hopefully, in the near future, it will be realized because there will be a lot of advantages. We can export our tropical fruits. There is big demand; Russia is sanctioned. Thus, Russia does not import food and fruit from western European Union. So, there is a target market worth $13.5 billion dollars that has been abandoned and we have not taken it yet,” said Wahid Supriyadi.

Ambassador Wahid Supriyadi further said so far, the direct flight that will be opened from Indonesia to Russia or vice versa is the one from Bali to Moscow three times a week. Bali has been the main destination for Russian tourists to Indonesia over a few decades. Regarding to the visit of Russian tourists to Indonesia, in January-December 2017, there were more than 110 thousand tourists. The figure is projected to increase annually. (VOI/Rezha/Trans by Dhyka)

Besides holding the Indonesia Festival 2018 with the theme "Visit Wonderful Indonesia Explorer Our Region", the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, Russia plans to hold Indonesia-Russia Business Forum 2018. The forum is themed ‘Infrastructure Development in Tourism’. The forum will take place one day before the opening of the Indonesia Festival 2018 on August 2nd. Minister of Tourism, Arief Yahya and Chairman of Investment Coordinating Board–BKPM, Thomas Lembong will be present as keynote speakers in the forum that will involve businesspeople and stakeholders of Indonesia and Russia. This was affirmed by Indonesian Ambassador to Russia, Wahid Supriyadi in his press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Jakarta, Friday (23/2).

“…So, we have full support from the Ministry of Tourism. Thus, the Business Forum with theme ‘infrastructure development in the field of tourism’. So, we invite the Minister of Tourism later as one of the speakers and chairman of BKPM. And now some regions that could win are actually related to the field of tourism and this is a wonderful opportunity. The national percentage is about 22 or 24. If Russia is above that, so far it is more concentration on Bali,” Ambassador Wahid Supriyadi said.

Ambassador Wahid Supriyadi further said that the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow will keep introducing other tourist destinations in Indonesia so that Russian tourists visiting Indonesia will no longer be concentrated in Bali. (VOI/Rezha/Trans by Rhm)