The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA), an affiliated organ of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), is the initiator of the event, which is slated to be held in Jakarta from Oct. 22 to 23.

In the two-day meeting, Kadin will bring up three main topics to discuss with the OIC member states, namely sharia banking, infrastructure and halal tourism.

“Our aim is to increase exports and investment from countries in the Middle East,” said Kadin chairman Rosan P. Roeslani in a press briefing at Kadin’s headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The event will be attended by around 700 participants from OIC countries, of which Indonesia is a member. The 57-member OIC aims to preserve Islamic social values and strengthen collaboration among members in various sectors, such as trade, investment and technology.

Kadin expects that business talks between Indonesia and the OIC members in the event could result in concrete investments or export realization in the near future.

Indonesia’s shipments to the Middle East only accounted for 5 percent of the country’s total exports in 2017. The figure increased slightly from 4 percent a year before, according to data from Kadin.

Data from trademap.org show that Indonesia’s exports to the OIC member countries reached US$21.14 billion in 2017, higher than the $18.25 billion a year earlier.

The biggest exported commodities from Indonesia last year included animal or vegetable fats and vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, the trademap.org data show.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s imports from OIC member countries stood at $20.29 billion last year, higher than the $16.52 billion recorded in 2016.

Indonesia imported mineral fuels and oils, plastics as well as organic chemicals from the OIC member countries, among other commodities.

Kadin data show that about 40 percent of Indonesia’s exports to the Middle East went to Saudi Arabia, with most of that being food commodities and furniture, said Mohammad Bawazeer, executive chairman of the ICCIA meeting, at the same event.

Bawazeer, who is also Kadin’s deputy chairman for the Middle East, explained that Indonesia’s low volume of exports to the Middle East was caused by a lack of knowledge on export procedures among Indonesian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“Our SMEs usually only care about selling products no matter who buys them, be they in Malaysia or Thailand. Kadin is trying to provide them with information on exports, so they don’t need to do transshipments,” he said, referring to the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to yet another destination.

In order to increase exports by SMEs, Bawazeer said the government played an important role in simplifying procedures and open access to shipments.

Apart from trade, Kadin is seeking opportunities for Indonesian businesspeople to invest in Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait, all of which are active in inviting investors. For example, Saudi Arabia provides one-day visas for businesspeople and investors, Bawazeer said.

However, Fachry Thaib, Kadin chairman for the Middle East and OIC countries, said that unstable political conditions in the Middle East, such as in Syria and Libya, were among the major challenges discouraging Indonesian exporters.

Fachry said Indonesian exporters could increase their chances of penetrating the Middle East by ensuring that their products had halal certification.

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