In view of the 80th Araw ng Dabaw celebration, the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Davao City has hosted the 1st Indonesian Food and Beverage Expo (IFBE) at the House of Indonesia on March 17 to 19, 2017.
The opening ceremony was graced by Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Johny J. Lumintang, Consul General of Indonesia to Davao City Berlian Napitupulu, City Administrator Atty. Zuleika Lopez, members of Indonesian Community in the Philippines, guests, and media practitioners.
In light of improving Indonesia-Philippines economic relations, the expo is the first event from the series of promotion activities that the consulate will organize this year.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of IFBE, Napitupulu observed that in the duration of his term some Indonesian products come to Mindanao through a third country.
“Of course, in the sense of economic theory, distribution by third party only add more to the total cost of production and in the end only increase the price of the product,” said Napitupulu.
The consul general added in the last 5 years the total trade between Indonesia and the Philippines grew not more that 0.41 percent positioning the former as the 9th import partner of the Philippines in 2015, a rank lower than Malaysia and Singapore.
The expo featured 18 exhibitors of export-quality products, especially food and beverages to be marketed in the Philippines.
Along with IFBE activities, the consulate also held a one-on-one business matching, arts and cultural performances, and tourism promotion. In addition, the Indonesia Culinary Festival was organized by the office in partnership with Marco Polo Hotel from March 17 to 19.
In an interview, Napitupulu expressed his determination to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Philippines reiterating that he “will make noise”.
He even cited Indonesia as the only ASEAN country that joined the Parada Dabawenyo during the Araw ng Dabaw celebration.
The expo will also gear the two countries on the upcoming launching of RoRo Davao-General Santos-Bitung Sea Route which is eyed to cut off the travel time and cost in conducting bilateral trade relations.
