Indonesia has successfully exported gold jewellery worth USD 6.98 million to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without incurring import duties. The gold jewellery arrived at Dubai Airport without any obstacles. This gold jewellery export leveraged the Indonesia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA) and marked the first duty-free export of this commodity. IUAE-CEPA officially came into effect at the beginning of September 2023. This inaugural gold jewellery export is hoped to demonstrate significant opportunities for Indonesian entrepreneurs to penetrate the Middle East market through the UAE. IUAE-CEPA is highly beneficial as it grants Indonesia gradual tariff exemptions and reductions. Out of a total of 7,581 tariff lines, 7,124 or 94% will receive exemptions or reductions. Of these tariff lines, 5,523 or 72.9% will be tariff-exempt when IUAE-CEPA is implemented. Subsequently, 1,474 tariff lines (19.4%) will be phased out over five years, and 127 tariff lines (1.7%) will receive preferential tariffs under special schemes. In addition to jewellery, several Indonesian products will benefit from tariff exemptions. These include paper products, palm oil, soap, motor vehicles, butter, iron and steel products, electrical and electronic equipment, wood pulp, vehicle tires, footwear, batteries, fabric products, coal, and cloves.
IUAE-CEPA is the first bilateral economic agreement that Indonesia has ever made with a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member country. This agreement is projected to boost the bilateral trade value between the two nations to over USD 10 billion within the next three years. During the period from January to July 2023, the total trade between Indonesia and the UAE amounted to USD 2.62 billion. Indonesian exports to the UAE during this period were recorded at USD 1.42 billion, while imports from the UAE to Indonesia amounted to USD 1.20 billion. In 2022, the total trade between the two countries reached USD 5.06 billion, with Indonesian exports to the UAE totaling USD 2.30 billion, and imports from the UAE to Indonesia amounting to USD 2.76 billion.
