Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi stated that the government continues to increase exports. One of them is through international trade cooperation agreements with various non-traditional export destination countries. "Indonesia is being transformed from an exporter of raw or semi-finished goods to industrial goods. So a sophisticated and high-quality trade agreement is needed so that goods can be sold abroad," Lutfi said in a virtual press conference, Monday (11/1).
The Ministry of Trade targets to complete 25 international trade agreements this year. "One of them is with traditional countries, seeking and taking advantage of opportunities in non-traditional countries as an alternative to export markets," he said. He said that this year the Ministry of Trade is targeting real exports of goods and services to grow by 4.2 percent, then non-oil and gas exports to grow by 6.3 percent. Meanwhile, the trade balance is targeted for a surplus of US $ 1 billion in 2021.
Lutfi estimates that several export destinations for Indonesia, such as China, the United States (US) and Europe, will return to normal conditions in April. "Or at the end of the first quarter and second quarter of this year, this condition was followed by developing countries and the middle class," he said. Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga added that this year the Ministry of Trade will continue to focus on the ongoing trade agreement negotiations. He said, now there are about 11 agreements in the negotiation stage. "Among them are the Indonesia-EU CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement for Indonesia and the European Union) which is still in the 10th negotiation," he said on a similar occasion. He continued, the Ministry of Trade will also conduct negotiations with Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and others. "So the target (international trade agreement) has been met, even exceeded the target. We are very excited, according to the direction of the Minister of Trade, ready to work hard to explore trade agreements that have not been touched," he said.
