Indonesia Hopes to Increase Exports to Gulf Region Through Free Trade Agreement

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement (I-GCC FTA) is expected to increase Indonesian exports to the Gulf region, according to Indonesia's Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

Indonesia and six GCC member countries—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar—already share an extensive relationship.

However, cooperation in the trade sector has not been maintained optimally, he noted.

"I want this agreement to help us increase our trade relations," he said at the launch of the I-GCC FTA on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

Hasan added that Indonesia-GCC trade relations have great potential value. Therefore, he asked that the agreement be completed without delay.

GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said the negotiations will focus on several sectors, such as trade in goods, services, customs, and Islamic economics.

Negotiations on Islamic economics will cover investment, trade, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), mining, trade barriers, sanitation, cooperation, and copyright.

"Minister Hasan and I agree that numbers are not our goal. Trade relations between the Gulf region and Indonesia have reached US$16 billion, and we continue to increase this figure with this agreement signing," he disclosed.

The total trade between Indonesia and the GCC in January–May reached US$6.2 billion, with the Gulf countries enjoying a surplus of US$800 million.

ANTARA

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