The Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) on Thursday held a business-to-business (B2B) meeting with Indonesian traders at Sheraton Hotel Jakarta.

“The main purpose [of this meeting] is to buy some of your outstanding products, like oil palm, rubber [and] timber,” KOIMA chairman Myoung Jin-shin told reporters.

He added that it also aimed to secure more than $100,000 purchases of Indonesian goods, ranging from fruits, vegetables and spices, to palm oil and rubber.

“We know Indonesia has a lot of natural resources, so we Korean traders now are looking for better products […] Indonesian products are cheaper and of better quality, compared to buying from Europe or America. It is also faster,” he added.

During the meeting, KOIMA also invited Indonesian businesspeople to take part in South Korea’s 2018 Import Goods Fair scheduled for June 21-23 in Seoul next year.

Jin-shin said KOIMA comprises more than 8,500 importers that can help local traders penetrate his country, which has a population of 50.62 million people. The event allocates 220 booths to lease for US$2,500 per 9 square meters or $2,000 per 9 sqm without a booth.

All the events are part of efforts to materialize South Korea’s dream to hit $2 trillion in total two-way foreign trade by 2020.

The global economic slowdown has pushed total trade between Indonesia and South Korea into a negative trend for the past five years, dropping by 15.79 percent in average every year. It fell by 15 percent to $13.68 billion last year alone. (bbn)