Indonesia and Egypt agreed to increase bilateral trade cooperation. Apart from that, Zulhas also welcomed the planned Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with Egypt which will be held next July in Bali. This was stated by Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan when he met the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir Saleh, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday (11/6). The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 3rd Ministerial Level Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Trade Preference System of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS-OIC) and the D-8 Informal Ministerial Level Meeting.
“I view that trade relations between Indonesia and Egypt can still be further improved. The two countries have long diplomatic relations and are a strong foundation for establishing closer trade cooperation,” said Zulhas in his statement, quoted Thursday (13/6/2024).
For Indonesia, Egypt is a strategic non-traditional trading partner in the African region. According to Zulhas, Egypt can take advantage of Indonesia’s potential as a gateway to the ASEAN market. Meanwhile, Indonesia can make Egypt a hub for African, European and Middle Eastern markets,” explained Zulhas.
According to Zulhas, the Egyptian Minister of Trade stated that he wanted to learn more about the trade potential that could be explored with Indonesia. In addition, Egypt showed the same enthusiasm to increase bilateral trade by twofold.
Regarding cooperation within the D-8 framework, Egypt welcomes Indonesia’s commitment to starting the implementation of the D-8 PTA. “We conveyed to Egypt that Indonesia agrees and supports PTA cooperation between D-8 member countries,” continued Zulhas.
Egypt is the 27th export destination country and the 56th source of Indonesian imports in the world. In January-April 2024, trade between the two countries will reach US$ 474.3 million. In that period, Indonesia’s export value was recorded at US$ 408.5 million and imports at US$ 65.9 million. Meanwhile, in 2023, total trade between the two countries will be recorded at US$ 1.51 billion, with Indonesia’s exports to Egypt amounting to US$ 1.31 billion, and Indonesia’s imports from Egypt amounting to US$ 201.4 million. Thus, Indonesia experienced a trade surplus against Egypt of US$ 1.11 billion. Meanwhile, in the last five years (2019-2023), Indonesia’s trade with Egypt showed positive growth of 8.65 percent.
In 2023, Indonesia’s main export commodities to Egypt are palm oil (US$ 798.5 million), coffee (US$ 84.5 million), thread other than sewing thread (US$ 48.2 million), wood fiber board ( US$ 37.4 million), as well as copra (US$ 32.2 million).
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s largest imports from Egypt are natural calcium phosphate (US$ 47.4 million), fertilizer containing phosphate (US$ 43.2 million), dates (US$ 23 million), fertilizer containing nitrogen (US$ 16 million), and molasses resulting from the extraction or refining of sugar (US$ 13.1 million). In 2023, the value of Egypt’s investment in Indonesia will reach US$ 1.25 million with a total of 114 investment projects. This value increased by 244% compared to 2022 which was recorded at US$ 364.8 thousand with 19 projects.
June 13, 2024, detikFinance
(https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-7388729/ri-mesir-sepakat-tingkatkan-kerja-sama-perdagangan)