Four ambassadors from MENA countries visited Gorontalo

Four ambassadors from Middle East and North African (MENA) countries visited Gorontalo Province and were hosted by Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) member Rachmat Gobel and Acting Gorontalo Governor Rudy Salahuddin. The four ambassadors are Ahmed Abdulla Al Harmasi Al Hajeri from Bahrain, Ouadia Benabdellah from Morocco, Mohamed Alshanfari from Oman, and Sudqi Omoush from Jordan.

"Gorontalo is a region nicknamed the Porch of Medina, so it is only right that Arab countries invest in Gorontalo," said Gobel on Nov. 23, 2024.

The four ambassadors arrived in Gorontalo on Nov. 22, 2024, morning and went straight to North Gorontalo Regency to inspect the Anggrek International Port. They then attended a Syarekat Islam event and Friday prayers at the Baiturrahin Mosque.

The day after, they met with representatives of Bank Indonesia (BI) and attended a presentation on Gorontalo's economic conditions. Also present were provincial officials and officials from regencies and cities throughout Gorontalo Province. During the visit, each ambassador also signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Rudy.

Rachmat said that East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China have already invested in Gorontalo. Therefore, he hopes that the four MENA countries could also follow their steps and invest there.

"Currently, Gorontalo is spurring its economic growth," he noted.

Rachmat also hopes that there will be school and college student exchanges for Indonesia and the four MENA states to learn from each other and improve the quality of their human capital. Currently, Gorontalo is the fifth poorest province in Indonesia, and Human Development Index is also the eighth lowest. To accelerate the province's progress, he launched Vision 2051 in 2021, targeting Gorontalo to become the fifth most prosperous province in Indonesia in the next 30 years.

Rachmat created two sites aimed at spurring economic growth to achieve that target, namely the Anggrek International Port and the Halal Food Special Economic Zone. The investments for both are worth Rp1.4 trillion and expected to employ 100,000 workers.

In his speech representing all ambassadors, Moroccan Ambassador to Indonesia and Singapore Ouadea Benabdellah admitted that he was impressed with Gorontalo's potential.

"We will bring entrepreneurs from Morocco to Gorontalo and will build a sister city [relationship] with Gorontalo [City]. People-to-people relations will further strengthen the relationship between the two countries," he said.

In addition, they will also cooperate in the fields of education and culture. Therefore, he invited people from Gorontalo to visit Morocco. As a country that has strength in the tourism sector, Morocco can share experiences in developing the tourism industry.

"I met Mr. Rachmat a year ago and planned this visit, and today I came to Gorontalo. Mr. Rachmat is already known to be very dynamic," he said.

In his presentation, Rudy and BI Gorontalo Province Representative Office Head Dian Nugraha presented an economic profile in the form of good economic growth and controlled inflation. In addition, they showed the economic potential of Gorontalo, especially in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, and halal tourism.

For agriculture, Gorontalo's export commodities are corn, cocoa, and coconut. In addition, they also export briquettes and coconut shell charcoal. Gorontalo also exports marine fishery products.