Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Minister of Trade Budi Santoso on June 26 affirmed that the conflict in the Middle East has not affected the Southeast Asian country’s export activities, expressing optimistism that the foreign trade performance will remain positive.
Talking to the press on June 26, the minister said he hopes there won't be any problems because the export trend has been consistently rising.
He estimated that Indonesia's export trend will remain surplus by May 2025.
Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a surplus in the April 2025 trade balance amounting to 160 million USD. However, BPS noted that this surplus is the lowest since May 2020.
On the contrary, Budi said, this May recorded the largest surplus in the past two years, so it's increasing again.
In an effort to improve export performance, the Indonesian Government is trying to diversify markets by establishing cooperation agreements with other countries and regions such as the European Union, noting the recent finalisation of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the EU (IEU-CEPA) and another deal with the Eurasian Economic Union (I-EAEU).
The Trade Minister also revealed that several other cooperation agreements are being finalised, citing the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Indonesia and Canada, which are in the process of drafting legal documents, and the talks on an agreement with Tunisia./.
