From Jakarta, She Returned with a Suitcase Full of Business Cards

From September 9 to 12, 2026, the Indonesia International Building and Mining Expo was held in Jakarta. Sara (Shang Yanfei), an overseas sales representative for English-speaking markets, represented her company at the event—a solo, four-day deep-dive reconnaissance into the Southeast Asian market.

This was no sightseeing tour. Sara plunged into the exhibition halls, speaking with exhibitors and professional visitors from mining, construction, engineering machinery, equipment manufacturing, and supporting services. She discussed local pain points, project operations, and potential collaboration angles. At the same time, she presented her company’s capabilities—what they do, where their strengths lie, and how they can work with partners.

She also visited a client company to deliver a formal product presentation. More than 40 international attendees filled the meeting room. Sara delivered the entire presentation in English, covering technical principles and application solutions—calm, steady, and articulate. During the Q&A, she answered questions fluently. The client showed strong interest, and some even praised the PPT layout, saying they had never seen such a clear industrial product presentation. Sara gained fans in Jakarta, and her colleague Baoguang also drew attention behind the scenes.

The four days yielded tangible results: a stack of business cards, multiple leads, several promising potential clients, and a clearer judgment of the Indonesian and broader Southeast Asian markets. Southeast Asia is heating up—not just a claim, but the crush of crowds in the exhibition hall, the spark in people’s eyes during conversations.

Going global is not a slogan. It is one person, one ticket, one booth at a time. Sara has made solid progress. Next, the company will continue to follow up on leads from the expo and maintain its pace of participating in international exhibitions.

(Contributor: Shang Yanfei)