Indonesian handicrafts attract Egyptian tourist market

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian handicrafts have attracted the Egyptian domestic market and foreign tourists visiting the north African country, making the products are also exhibited at the Southeast Asian Handicraft  show room in Maadi district which is located in Egypt’s capital city of Cairo.

The show room, which was founded by local businessmen, namely Mohamed Gabr as Director of the Ahram Foundation, and Samir Saleh Abdel Meguid who is Deputy Director of the foundation, was inaugurated on Tuesday (Sep 15).

The Indonesian Embassy in Cairo also inaugurated the showroom, where more than 80 percent of the collections were from Indonesia.

Mohamed Gabr said the Indonesian handicraft products in his gallery, including those from Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara), Jepara (Central Java) and Bali.

The Indonesian crafts have captivated locals’ interests, and foreign tourists on vacation to Egypt, he added.

“Many egyptian handicraft traders buy Indonesian products in the Ahram Foundation show room, then resell them at various tourist objects in Egypt, such as in Sharm Sheikh, Hurghada, Alexandria and others,” said Gabr, who has been in business with Indonesia for 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Chargé d’Affaires (KUAI) of the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo, M. Aji Surya, said Mohamed Gabr was a business player who was not only confident, but also smart in seeing the market opportunities for Indonesian handicraft products.

He added, when the pandemic ends, Mohamed Gabr would be one of the business actors in Egypt who are most ready to serve foreign tourists.

“Of course, during this pandemic, there has been a decline in exports, but in the last five years there has been a 15 percent increase in exports of Indonesian handicraft products to Egypt,” Aji Surya said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window