A chance to savour some of the wonders of Indonesia
INDONESIA, the world’s largest archipelago country, consists of more than 17 500 islands.
An area of mega-biodiversity, it has the second longest coastline after Canada. The country sits between the world’s most active seismic region, the notorious Pacific Ring of Fire, yet it is heaven for divers, surfers, hikers, and nature adventurers alike due to its geological and landscape diversity.
And if you are an adrenalin junkie, you may want to meet the Komodo dragon – the largest living species of lizards – at Komodo Island, one of the New7Wonders of Nature sites.
Apart from these magnificent wonders, Indonesia is also a home for cultural diversity. The country, where the largest Muslim population currently lives, is one of the top pilgrimage destinations for Buddhists around the world – the Buddhist temple, Borobudur, is also situated in Indonesia.
Indonesian cuisine, similar to the Malay’s taste, offers you vibrant delicious and richly flavoured dishes.
A cultural melting pot, just like South Africa, Indonesia has allured many tourists, traders, and investors for centuries. From the Dutch East Indies era to the modern era of Indonesia, it is gearing up to become the fifth largest economy in the world by 2030 in terms of purchasing power parity.
According to the Economist (January last year) the country is the third leading destination for investment in Asia after China and India.
The economy improved 19 positions in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey 2018 with a rank of 72. Becoming an emerging market and with such huge potentials trade with Indonesia is clearly promising.
At a celebration to mark the 73rd anniversary of Indonesia’s Independence Day tomorrow, hosted by the Indonesian consulate general in Cape Town, you can discover more about the country and experience its diversity at the consulate’s courtyard, at 124 Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth, Cape Town, from 9 am-5 pm. Admission is free.
Supported by our missions in Pretoria and Windhoek, Namibia, the event will bring sensations to your five senses. It offers a wide range of tastes of Indonesian food served by the Indonesian community in Cape Town (satay – lamb skewers; rendang – slowcooked beef stew; nasi goreng – fried rice; varieties of Indonesian sweets and snacks, and many more).
Visitors can learn about authentic Indonesia’s Javanese noodle or ba mee in a cooking demo session presented by the Lemongrass cooking class.
A promotional stall brought by the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre will display Indonesian best products from coffee and Indofood instant noodle. You will find a section of Indonesian cultural and innovative products, such as Batik, which refers to a drawing technique on a hand-dyed garment and its final products.
On many occasions, former president Nelson Mandela wore a batik shirt, which became known as the Madiba shirt.
There will be folk dances from Indonesia’s major islands, Sumatra, Java, and Bali; an Indonesian bamboo-made music performance, Angklung, by the Indonesian language class; and other traditional musical instrument performances. Visitors will also be challenged on their knowledge on anything Indonesia.
“We hope to build mutual understanding between Indonesia and South Africa… with a common root of history and of multicultural societies.
“The consulate of Indonesia shows a keen interest to expand the peopleto-people relations between Indonesia and South Africa on many levels that in turn could result in prosperity between us,” stated the Indonesian consul-general on the purpose of holding Indonesian Day 2018 for the second time to promote Indonesia. – Indonesian Consulate