Trade Minister Affirms Middle East Tensions Haven't Impacted Indonesia's Exports

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Trade Budi Santoso stated that the war in the Middle East has not affected Indonesia's export activities. He is optimistic that the foreign trade performance will remain positive. "Hopefully, there won't be any problems because the trend has been consistently rising," he told reporters at the Ministry of Trade office on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

He estimated that Indonesia's export trend will remain surplus by May 2025. "The data has not been released yet. But yesterday, Minister of Finance (Sri Mulyani) also mentioned that it increased in May," said Budi Santoso to reporters at the Ministry of Trade office on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a surplus in the April 2025 trade balance amounting to US$160 million. Monthly, BPS noted that this April's surplus is the lowest since May 2020. "On the contrary, this May recorded the largest surplus in the past two years. So, it's increasing again, no problem," said Budi.

Budi mentioned several situations that triggered the low export surplus in April 2025. According to him, the long holiday in April 2025 affected export productivity. "Many companies were also on holiday, and secondly, the time was busy with Trump's tariffs, so many postponed due to seeking certainty."

In an effort to improve export performance, the National Mandate Party politician said the government is trying to diversify markets by establishing cooperation agreements with other countries, such as the European Union. "The IEU-CEPA agreement is complete, and I-EAEU is also done," he said.

He also revealed that several other cooperation agreements are being finalized. He cited the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between Indonesia and Canada, which are in the process of drafting legal documents.

Budi Santoso mentioned that the government is negotiating with Tunisia and awaiting the signing of the agreement. "Psychologically, they will increasingly relate to businesspeople because in the future, there will be more accessible markets," he said.

According to Budi Santoso, many countries have sent buyers to Indonesia and proposed business forums after signing. Even though the agreement is not yet in effect, this negotiation process psychologically encourages them to seek partners.

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