JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has expressed his commitment to supporting business actors, especially exporters, with policies to help Indonesian products enter the global markets and remove any trade barrier.
“One of our tasks at the ministry is to support Indonesian exporters. Therefore, export regulations must be simplified. I will not let the regulations hamper Indonesia’s economic growth. If you find any export obstacle, just report it,” he said.
Speaking at the “First National Working Meeting of the Indonesian Export Entrepreneurs Association (GPEI)” in Jakarta on Monday, Hasan further said that he was grateful for Indonesia’s trade balance surplus of US$54.53 billion in 2022.
The value of the surplus increased by US$19.11 billion from the previous year.
The achievement came from the contribution of domestic exporters. In 2022, the national export sector contributed US$292 billion, up 26 percent from the previous year, and significantly supported Indonesia’s trade balance surplus, he added.
“The success in achieving a surplus for two consecutive years, even in 2022, was supported by the hard work of our exporters. This achievement is also marked as the highest in history. I am so proud and grateful,” he said.
Furthermore, the Trade Ministry has continued to support exports of products with added value, especially for agro and creative industry products.
The minister said that agro commodities must be developed so they get added value as part of an effort to improve the welfare of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including those producing agricultural products.
“We must think one step further to process agro-industry products with added value. Meanwhile, for creative products, we have to build an ecosystem that is able to support our industries, including MSMEs as well,” he added.
In addition, the government will continue to widen the market share for Indonesian export products in the global markets, especially in South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. One of the efforts to achieve this will be to promote trade agreements with partner countries, Hasan said.