REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON - Indonesia has recently taken part in the 27th Salon de Gourmets Culinary Exhibition in IFEMA, Madrid, as a culinary diplomacy to promote its exports and tourism in Spain, an Indonesian diplomat has said.
The culinary food and beverage exhibition which was opened by Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment Airas Canete, is the biggest exhibition of its kind in Europe, Theodorus Satrio Nugroho, Indonesian Counselor in Madrid said on Sunday.
Theodorus said that the exhibition was attended by 1,056 participants from 73 countries and was visited by 76,000 visitors with a total transaction of 194 million euro. He said that the Indonesian stand in the expo which was organized by the trade attach and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center in Spain presented six private companies such as Coffindo for coffee product, OT for bottled mineral water and Maesindo for attire ornaments and cooking accessories.
Businessmen who took part in the exhibition said the Spanish market had not yet been well-known to the Indonesian people. Therefore, they appreciated very must the initiative of the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid to take part in the Salon de Gourments for the first time. They said that the Indonesia's participation in the exhibition was a first step so that transaction value was not yet big for Indonesia food products.