Indonesian Coffee Diplomacy Expected To Build RI-Qatar Atmosphere At Doha Expo 2023

Illustration. Indonesian native coffee beans raw material. (ANTARA-Muhammad Arif Hidayat)

JAKARTA - Coffee will be used as a means of cultural diplomacy between Indonesia and Qatar. With coffee, the atmosphere that was built in the meeting is expected to run well.

This was conveyed by the Director General (Dirjen) of Culture of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) Hilmar Farid during an online press conference on the Culture Year of Qatar 2023, Monday, May 22. "Coffee is a medium for diplomacy, hopefully from coffee diplomacy we can talk about many things, because with coffee we can discuss, so coffee is one cultural medium, to open many other conversations," said Hilmar. He said, the Coffee Festival will be held at Doha Expo as a series of Qatar Cultural Year 2023, which will last until December 2023, where Indonesia will become the first partner country from Southeast Asia. "We hope that there will be an overflow of visitors from Doha Expo, it will be our diplomacy to introduce a coffee culture that cannot be separated from Indonesia, as well as Qatar," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador (Ambassador) of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) to Qatar Ridwan Hassan added, so far Qatar has always contacted the Indonesian Embassy in Doha, Qatar, to look for baristas (copy makers) from Indonesia that have the potential to work in the country. "In Qatar many baristas are from Indonesia, and they are very sought after. When someone opens a coffee shop, they look for baristas from Indonesia to be able to be hijacked and brought to Qatar," said Ridwan. He also explained that so far Indonesia's coffee diplomacy in Qatar has not only been carried out by the government and the Indonesian Embassy, but also by the diaspora who live there. "The diaspora here also actively introduces coffee beans, tells about coffee history in Indonesia, even to give or sell original Indonesian coffee here, because after all, the history of the Indonesian nation cannot be separated from coffee," said Ridwan. Currently, he said, there are 70 Indonesian diaspora associations in Qatar, who actively introduce Indonesian culture to foreign communities. Not only coffee, they also introduce dance, angklung, to establish art houses. "They are always present from time to time. There is also a support committee from Qatar involving Indonesian figures who have an interest in the field of cultural arts," he said.

Indonesia was chosen to be the partner of the Qatar Cultural Year or Qatar Years of Culture 2023, as well as the first country in Southeast Asia to have the opportunity to hold a cultural exchange with the country. One of the activities that opened the opening tonight was the drama show "Hayati: The Panji Story Looking for Hakhat Cinta." One of the other activities that will also be held is a photography exhibition, where photographers from Indonesia will be sent to Qatar to document the cultural wealth there, as well as photographers from Qatar who will be sent to Indonesia for the same purpose.