Minister of Trade Zulhas Invites Gulf Arab Countries to Strengthen Trade Relations through CEPA

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan (left). (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan invites Arab countries in the Gulf Region to increase and strengthen trade relations through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) or Free Trade Agreement (FTA) scheme.

Until now, said Zulhas, the nickname for Zulkifli Hasan, the United Arab Emirates is the only Arab country in the Gulf Region that has established CEPA cooperation with Indonesia.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan during a meeting with the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah M Al-Hajraf in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"I expect Secretary General Nayef's full support, considering that CEPA will provide a great opportunity for both parties to elevate bilateral trade relations to a higher level," he said in an official statement, quoted on Tuesday, January 24.

During the meeting, Minister of Trade Zulhas also submitted another proposal regarding the establishment of a trade agreement cooperation between Indonesia and the GCC, which had previously been submitted in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Moreover, Indonesia has signed a CEPA with the United Arab Emirates, which is a member of the GCC, which was completed within nine months.

Responding to this, Secretary General Nayef expressed his full support for Indonesia's proposal to immediately begin negotiating a Trade Agreement in the form of the Indonesia-GCC CEPA or Indonesia-GCC FTA.

At the meeting it was also agreed that the technical teams of the two countries could follow up to immediately discuss plans for CEPA/FTA negotiations.

For your information, the GCC is an alliance of economic and political cooperation consisting of six countries in the Arab Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.

In the period from January to November 2022, Indonesia's total GCC trade was recorded at USD 15 billion, up 41.26 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

In this period, Indonesia's exports to the GCC were recorded at USD 4.8 billion while Indonesia's imports from the GCC were USD 10.2 billion.

Meanwhile, in 2021, Indonesia's total trade with the GCC was recorded at USD 11.9 billion.

During this period, Indonesia's exports to the GCC were recorded at USD 4.1 billion, while Indonesia's imports from the GCC were recorded at USD 7.9 billion.

Indonesia's main export products to the GCC include motor vehicles, palm oil, jewelry, monitors and projectors, and woven fabrics. Meanwhile, Indonesia's main import products from GCC include crude oil, gas fuel, petroleum, semi-finished iron, and acyclic alcohol.