First Israeli business delegation visits Indonesia
The Indonesian military wanted to buy Israel UAVs in order better to patrol the vast archipelago, but the Indonesian House of Representatives rejected the plan
Remember those ads for the food company Schmuckler? “With a name like Schmuckler it has to be good!” We can apply the same logic as a test for Israeli products: If a Muslim country Israel buys Israeli products, then these products must really be good.
The Jakarta Post reports that, for the first time, an Israeli business delegation recently visited Indonesia, the world’s largest predominantly-Muslim country, to forge closer ties between the two countries. The mission had representatives of eight Israeli companies and was organized by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry’s commercial attaché in Singapore. It followed the visit by Indonesia’s Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) to Israel in 2006.
Since Israel has no diplomatic ties with Indonesia, it took three years to build the necessary infrastructure for the creation of direct business relations that would be permitted by law in both countries, said Anat Katz, commercial attaché in Singapore.
Bilateral trade volume between Israel and Indonesia stood at $47.8 million in the first half of 2009, a 60 percent decline compared with the same period last year. The volume of exports in the first six months of the year totaled $5.2 million, down from $7.7 million during the first half of 2008.
One Israeli product will not be sold to Indonesia: The Indonesian military wanted to purchase Israeli UAVs, but Indonesian House of Representatives rejected late in June the military’s plan.
