Coordinating Minister Airlangga Reveals How To Maintain National Economic Resilience

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia's trade balance continues to show a surplus for 41 consecutive months from May 2020 to September 2023. As for the third quarter of 2023, Indonesia's total trade balance recorded a surplus of 7.85 billion US dollars.

On the other hand, Indonesia is still able to show resilience, although global conditions also affect Indonesia's export performance. This is evidenced by the ability of the Indonesian economy to record high growth in the second quarter of 2023 of 5.17 percent (yoy).

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the government continues to make various efforts to maintain the resilience of the national economy, one of which is through Presidential Decree Number 24 of 2023 concerning the Export Improvement Task Force.

Airlangga added that the government will also continue to make optimal use of various international economic cooperation forums to expand the export market for national products

In addition, the push for sustainability of added value manufacturing activities or supply chain added value in the form of downstream sustainability.

"At the leadership of the G20 Presidency and this year the chairmanship of ASEAN, these two moments are an opportunity for Indonesia to gain international trust or international trust that has proven Indonesia's credibility, and also Indonesia to be increasingly recognized and respected within the international scope because Indonesia presents certainty and also supply chain reliability," said Airlangga in a statement received, Wednesday, October 18.

According to Airlangga, with Indonesia's current position being taken into account, the state must be brave in making policy choices, for example, the policy of downstreaming natural resources. The closure of the nickel ore export tap since 2020 has proven to have generated added value for nickel exports of 33 billion US dollars or around Rp. 514 trillion in 2022.

Airlangga added that the Trade Expo Indonesia 2023 which was implemented in a hybrid manner must be able to become a platform that represents the output of Government policies in the trade sector.

Meanwhile, trade and economic agreements in the form of PTA, FTA, and CEPA which are expected to reflect the potential for trade transactions at TEI 2023.

This year's target must be improved. This year the participants are bigger than last year, namely 1,193,000 visitors. Then it is hoped that the exports will certainly not be conveyed, the target is 10 billion US dollars, but this year's target must be higher than last year's achievement of 15.8 billion US dollars," said Airlangga.