Minister Of Trade Budi Bujuk Saudi Arabia Genjot Trade Cooperation

Minister of Trade Budi Santoso. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Transportation)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Budi Santoso has held a virtual bilateral meeting with the Minister of Trade of Saudi Arabia Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi to discuss trade performance and strengthening cooperation in increasing the economic potential of the two countries.

Budi said Saudi Arabia is one of the important trading partners for Indonesia. He also conveyed a positive response to the need for increased trade cooperation.

"Indonesia has trade representatives in Saudi Arabia that can bridge relations between Saudi Arabian and Indonesian business actors," he said in an official statement, Monday, August 25.

Budi said that the total trade between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia still has room to continue to be developed.

He hopes that an increase in trade can be realized in the future.

Furthermore, Budi said, several steps could be taken, among others, through visits by business delegates and participation in trade fairs.

"I appreciate Saudi Arabia's desire to explore the potential for cooperation in order to improve the trade performance of the two countries. There are many ways that can be explored to strengthen trade relations, one of which is through visits by business delegates, as Indonesia has done some time ago," said Budi.

Saudi Arabia Agrees to Increase Cooperation

Meanwhile, the Minister of Trade Majid expressed his desire to increase trade cooperation and look for new opportunities with Indonesia. He also said that many potential goods and services products could still be developed in trade.

For this reason, Majid suggested that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia could exchange information to start efforts to increase trade cooperation.

The two trade ministers plan to meet again on the sidelines of the G20 Ministerial Meeting in October 2025. The follow-up meeting will discuss more deeply the concrete steps in increasing trade cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

For your information, in 2024, Saudi Arabia will be the 18th export destination country and the 12th import origin for Indonesia.

In Semester I 2025, the total trade between the two countries was recorded at 3.2 billion US dollars with Indonesia's exports recorded at 1.7 billion US dollars and Indonesia's imports of 1.5 billion US dollars.

In 2024, the total trade between the two reached 6.6 billion US dollars, with the value of Indonesia's exports recorded at 2.6 billion US dollars, while imports were 4.4 billion US dollars.

Produk ekspor utama Indonesia ke Arab Saudi meliputi kendaraan bermotor, minyak kelapa sawit, kapal ringan, saus dan olahannya, serta pipa besi.

Sementara itu, impor dari Arab Saudi meliputi minyak petroleum mentah, minyak petroleum selain mentah, gas petroleum, alkohol asiklik dan belerang.

Indonesia's main export products to Saudi Arabia include motorized vehicles, palm oil, light boats, sauces and processed products, and iron pipes.

Meanwhile, imports from Saudi Arabia include crude petroleum oil, petroleum oil in addition to crude, petroleum gas, acyclic alcohol and sulfur.