Avoid Recession Storms, The Republic of Indonesia Turns Aim to Target African Markets for Exports

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Pelindo)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Trade (Wamendag) Jerry Sambuaga said that the government is preparing a policy strategy to maintain national export performance, one of which is through increasing access to non-traditional markets in Africa.

According to Jerry, this step was taken due to the prediction of a recession which is believed to occur in a number of developed countries, Indonesia's main trading partners.

"Of course, a recession has the potential to reduce world aggregate demand and can further impact the demand for Indonesian export products," he said in an official statement quoted by Munggu, November 6.

Jerry explained that the latest efforts taken by the Ministry of Trade are also in accordance with President Joko Widodo's direct mandate to increase exports to non-traditional countries.

“Some of the focus areas are Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. The export potential in these markets is huge. For example, the African region has a population of 1.18 billion people with a gross domestic product (GDP) of USD 2.11 trillion in 2022 and could reach US$8.39 trillion in the future,” he said.

To increase non-oil and gas exports, including to non-traditional markets, the Ministry of Religion sets priority policies including negotiation and ratification of international trade agreements, facilitation of foreign trade, trade promotion, and training and mentoring of SMEs.

Meanwhile, in the African region, Indonesia already has a bilateral trade agreement with Mozambique (Indonesia—Mozambique Preferential Trade Agreement/PTA). Meanwhile, in the South Asian region, Indonesia has the Indonesia-Pakistan PTA and the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

"Most recently, in the Middle East, Indonesia has a bilateral trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in the form of Indonesia - the United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or IUAE-CEPA," he added.

In terms of trade promotion, the Ministry of Trade is recorded as regularly holding international trade exhibitions, Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI). In 2022, the 37th TEI will be held by hydride, namely offline on 19-23 October 2022 at ICE BSD Tangerang, Banten and online on 19 October-19 December 2022.

Jerry said, the total temporary trade transactions for TEI 2022 reached US$3.55 billion or equivalent to IDR 55.14 trillion. The value of this transaction still has the potential to continue to grow considering that online TEI will last until December 2022.

"Through various programs that print export-oriented business actors and SMEs, it is hoped that they will be able to support efforts to increase national exports," he concluded.