The Turkish Ministry has said that the Nation seeks to pursue a $10 billion trade agreement with Indonesia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his intention to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for increased bilateral trade, emphasizing the need for fairness and equity for both countries.
On Wednesday, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced that Türkiye and Indonesia have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their bilateral trade cooperation.
Erdogan returned to Indonesia after his 2022 visit, meeting with President Prabowo at Bogor Palace to discuss trade. During his visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed to strengthen bilateral trade cooperation. The leaders’ joint statement set a $10 billion trade volume target, aiming to quadruple the current level. Erdogan asserted the need for ‘balanced’ trade, indicating his intention to reduce the trade deficit with Jakarta.
As reported by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), trade between Indonesia and Turkiye increased from $2.1 billion in 2023 to nearly $2.4 billion the following year. Additionally, Indonesia’s trade surplus with Turkiye surged from $940 million to almost $1.5 billion during the same period.
“We discussed how we can increase our annual trade to $10 billion and make it balanced. We will try to achieve it together. We are committed to doing everything that we can to unlock that trade volume,” Erdogan stated.
Prabowo also expressed his desire to expedite the negotiations for the Indonesia-Turkiye Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which have been stalled at the negotiating table since 2017. “We are committed to increasing trade that is mutually beneficial. We should quickly finalize our CEPA talks. We have agreed to expand market access to the goods produced by the two countries,” said Prabowo.
According to the joint statement, through a preferential trade agreement scheme $10 billion trade volume can be possibly achieved. The initial phase involves establishing a limited preferential trade pact by 2026 ‘in principle.’ The agreement will be limited to reduce certain number of tariff lines. In contrast, CEPA is more comprehensive and encompasses various areas including investment. The statement noted that the preferential trade scheme could serve as a foundation for the future Indonesia-Turkiye CEPA agreement.
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