Japan Recession, This Is An Anticipation Step From The Indonesian Government

Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy as well as Plt. Secretary General of the National Council of SEZ Susiwijono Moegiarso. (Doc. BETWEEN/HO-Kemenko Ekonomi)

JAKARTA - On Thursday, February 15, Japan was declared to have entered a recession and lost its position as the third-largest economy in the world.

As a measure to anticipate the impact of Japan's economic slowdown which has experienced a recession, the Indonesian government is trying to resolve various trade negotiations to expand Indonesia's market access to global trade.

"The Export Increase Task Force is focusing on expanding market access by encouraging the completion of agreement negotiations, especially the Indonesia-EU CEPA, Indonesia's chances of entering the CPTPP trading block, and accessing Indonesia to become an OECD member," said Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso in a release, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, February 17.

In addition, he said that the task force was also seeking to increase exports to 12 new countries, priorities for Indonesia's export destinations, namely Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, China, Philippines, India, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico, the UAE, and Vietnam.

He mentioned that the export commodities that will be prioritized to these countries are fish and processed, swallow's nest, coconut and processed coconut, processed coffee and spices, vegetable and margarine, cocoa, processed food, and mangic and animal feed.

Cement, chemical products, rubber and rubber products, skin and products from skin, pulp and paper, textiles and textile products (TPT) and footwear, precious metals and jewelry, machinery, electronics, automotive, furniture, and toys are also included in the export priority product.

According to Susiwijono, amid the disruption of the global economy due to the threat of a Japanese recession, the Indonesian economy is still resilient with solid growth achievements.

"The solid growth achievement is supported by domestic demand which continues to grow and is maintained by controlled inflation," he said.

Japan is one of the main export destinations for Indonesia with the main commodities for coal exports, electronic, nickel and automotive components.

The Coordinating Ministry for the Economy noted that Japan is Indonesia's 4th largest export destination country in 2023 with total transactions reaching USD 18.8 billion.

Japan also occupies the 4th position as the main investment origin country in Indonesia with an investment of USD 4.63 billion in 2023.