Trade Minister Lutfi: The United Arab Emirates Has A Strategic Role For Indonesia

Minister of Trade, M. Lutfi. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a strategic role for Indonesia. This is because the UAE is one of the non-traditional export markets that is a hub for international trade to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe market destinations.

"Indonesia continues to improve trade and investment cooperation relations with the UAE. For Indonesia, the UAE's role is very strategic to increase exports and national investment," he said in an official statement received by VOI in Jakarta, quoted on Tuesday, May 17.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi when accompanying President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to meet His Highness the Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to express his condolences for the death of the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The meeting was held in the Presidential Flight Room of Abu Dhabi International Airport, Sunday, May 15, 2022. As is known, the President of the UAE reportedly died on May 13, 2022, at the age of 73 years.

"The President expressed his deep condolences for the death of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa. He is a great leader not only in the Middle East but also in the world," said Lutfi.

Furthermore, Lutfi said, currently Indonesia and the UAE are also in the stage of fine-tuning the completion of the Indonesia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA) negotiations, particularly related to market access for trade in goods.

"Intense communication and meetings continue to be carried out by both parties, with the hope that the IUAE-CEPA can be signed by the Minister of Trade of the two countries in the near future," he said.

With the entry into force of the IUAE-CEPA, said Lutfi, it is hoped that Indonesia's exports to the UAE can increase by 53.9 percent in the next 10 years when compared to 2021, since the start of the IUAE-CEPA negotiations.

As is known, after the launch of the IUAE-CEPA negotiations in September last year, on February 27, 2022, in Yogyakarta, the IUAE-CEPA negotiations have been substantively agreed upon by the two countries after conducting four rounds of negotiations.

There are 10 working groups to discuss various substantive issues, namely trade in goods, trade in services, provisions on origin of goods, customs and trade facilitation, investment, economic cooperation, intellectual property rights, procurement of government goods and services, small and medium enterprises, and Islamic economics and legal and institutional issues.

The total trade between Indonesia and the UAE has recorded USD 4.03 billion in 2021. During that period, Indonesia's exports to the UAE reached USD 1.89 billion and Indonesia's imports from the UAE amounted to USD 2.14 billion.

Meanwhile, Lutfi continued, in the January-March 2022 period, the total trade between the two countries was recorded at 1.25 billion US dollars, an increase of 20.99 percent when compared to the same period in 2021, which reached 1.03 billion US dollars.

"Indonesia's exports to the UAE in the January-March 2022 period have reached 525 million US dollars, an increase of 31.13 percent when compared to the same period in 2021 which reached 400 million US dollars and Indonesia's imports from the UAE of 729 million dollars, an increase of 14 percent. 0.6 percent when compared to the same period in 2021 which reached 636 million US dollars," he explained.

Indonesia's non-oil and gas export products include palm oil, articles of jewellery, tubes and pipes of iron, motor cars & other motor vehicles, and woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn. Meanwhile, Indonesia's non-oil and gas imports from the UAE include semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel, acyclic hydrocarbons, unwrought aluminum, colloidal precious metal and polymers of propylene or of other olefins.