SBM ITB Students had the opportunity to participate in the largest national trade, tourism, and investment exhibition in Indonesia, namely Trade Expo Indonesia 2023 ICE BSD Tangerang (21/10). The field trip is part of the Shopper Behavior and Integrated Business Asia courses.
Trade Expo Indonesia is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Trade, which takes place from 18 October to 18 December 2023. Here, buyers and investors can directly interact with Indonesian companies, build business relationships, look for investment opportunities, and create long-term collaborations. The Ministry of Trade created this event to improve Indonesia’s export performance while showcasing the best product and service businesses from Indonesia.
In the exhibition, Shopper Behavior class students observed the process of forming business-to-business collaboration. Meanwhile, participants in the Integrated Business Asia class learned how import and export work directly in the field. Trade Expo Indonesia facilitates the needs of these two courses and provides opportunities for students to meet, interact, and learn more about the profiles of various companies attending the exhibition.
For example, students in the Shopper Behavior class have several assignments while at the exhibition. These include observing and interacting with company booths, getting to know their profiles, exploring their goals for attending this event, their target market, and the strategies implemented to attract that market.
It didn’t end there; students were also asked to interact with business owners attending this event. They had to find out the participants’ background, expectations for this Expo, and the decision journey and evaluative behavior they went through while at the booth. This process was repeated for several selected industries at this Expo, culminating in a comparison of the characteristics of each industry.
Meanwhile, students in the Integrated Business Asia class were tasked with making a product they could export as part of a project in the course. The Expo helps them find out about products similar to what they want, how businesses source their supplies and export them, and a variety of other information that can help them in the process.
Several students said they were happy to be able to take part in this field trip. This Expo is an opportunity to learn business directly from the participants.
“It enriches my knowledge about international markets because I can get interesting knowledge directly from the informants we interviewed,” said Rachel, a student in the Shopper Behavior class.
Students who were initially skeptical about this field trip also expressed their enjoyment after taking part in this field trip.
“It turns out that I gained valuable experiences from this trip, from chatting with international exporters to being advised by expert practitioners,” said Vasya, a student in the Shopper Behavior class.
“One of the most impressive facts I learned was that some businesses don’t want to market on the internet to maintain the exclusivity of their brand in an era when almost everyone does the opposite.”
Zahira, a student in the Integrated Business Asia class, praised the exhibition for organizing events based on industry, making it easier for visitors to navigate.
“One of the selling points of this event is that there are related ministries and other organizations that can provide direct business consulting services. There are also experts in fields such as FTA, WTO, and MSME development. “You feel how much they want these businesses to enter the international market,” said Zahira.
