Much to draw from B'luru startup culture: Indonesian envoy

Bengaluru has a thriving startup culture which has proved valuable for entrepreneurs in Indonesia, we have many things to learn from here, Indonesian Consul  General Saut Siringoringo said on Wednesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event to promote tourism in Indonesia, Siringoringo said the expertise of those involved in Bengaluru startups will be of great value for young entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

“The experiences of those coming from a thriving startup culture like Bengaluru has already drawn several delegations from Indonesia. One delegation with 17 startup companies recently visited Bengaluru. More and more people will come here to learn,” he said.

The consul general said Indonesia issues about 700 working visas every month to Indians. “Out of the 700, more than 50 are from Bengaluru. Indians are sought after across all the sectors. We expect this trend to grow in the coming years,” he said.

Stressing that Indonesia has more to offer to tourists than the usual destination near Bali, he said: “There are 10 significant tourist destinations other than Bali and we are building additional infrastructure, including six international airports, to ease commuting to these places. Besides luxury tours and honeymoon trips, tourists come for anthropological and cultural interests.”

“At the same time, we want to increase the number of Indonesians coming to India. At present, we have only 23,000 people visiting this country. But, most of them go back after looking at famous places in north India. We will promote the rich heritage in south India,” he said.

Siringoringo said Indonesia and India share a wide variety of similarities in religion and culture. “We are Muslim majority country but we worship Ganesha and celebrate Ramayana. The best value we share with India is unity in diversity,” he said.