The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the Minister of State for the Department of Business and Trade, envoys from the British Prime Minister, and British businessmen. This agenda is in the context of enhancing cooperation in trade and export of Indonesian coffee, during the Minister of Trade's working visit to England on 7-9 March 2023. Next, they will sign an international coffee agreement (ICA) and deliver a keynote speech at the ASEAN Business Council United Kingdom (UK) Business Forum. "Indonesia welcomes the plan to sign the 2022 ICA so that it can continue to work with the International Coffee Organization (ICO) to overcome various challenges for the future of Indonesian coffee in the international market and improve the welfare of coffee farmers," said Zulkifli Hasan as quoted by Antara, Wednesday (8/3/2023).
Zulkifli said that this visit was an opportunity to strengthen the cooperation that had existed between Indonesia and the UK. The hope is that this series of meetings can bring concrete results for the progress of Indonesia's trade and investment. "The signing of the ICA is also the basis for increasing cooperation to revitalize the Indonesian coffee sector," he said. In 2022, the total trade between Indonesia and the UK was recorded at US$2.7 billion, up 5.30 percent compared to the previous year. In the same year, Indonesia's exports to the UK were recorded at US$1.7 billion. Meanwhile, Indonesia's imports from England amounted to US$1.0 billion.Meanwhile, in 2021, Indonesia's total trade with the UK is recorded at US$2.6 billion. Of this total, Indonesia's exports to the UK were recorded at US$1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Indonesia's imports from Britain were recorded at US$1.1 billion.
Indonesia's main export products to the UK include footwear with textile uppers, leather footwear with uppers, woodworking and building materials, palm oil and printing machinery. Meanwhile, Indonesia's main imported products from the UK include paper or cardboard, medicines, motor vehicles for transportation, goods, ferrous waste and scrap, and telephone equipment.
