Alexei Gruzdev: Bilateral trade with Indonesia tops USD 1 billion this year
Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Gruzdev held a third meeting of the Trade, Industry, and Investments Working Group of the Russian-Indonesian Joint Commission for Trade, Economic, and Technical Cooperation in Moscow. The Indonesian delegation was led by Deputy Coordinating Minister for International Economic and Financial Cooperation of the Republic of Indonesia Rizal Affandi Lukman.
Gruzdev said the decrease in bilateral trade that took place in 2014–2015 was replaced by an increase of 33.3% in 2016. Positive dynamics have also been seen in 2017. “Over the first five months, bilateral trade increased by 14.8% and exceeded USD 1 billion”, he said.
Exports from both Russia and Indonesia have increased in 2017. “The structure of exports from Russia is quite diversified”, Gruzdev said. “They include chemical industry products, which make up almost a third of exports, food products and agricultural raw materials, metals, machinery, equipment, and vehicles. We have seen a significant increase in Russian wheat exports this year”. Imports to Russia from Indonesia consist of food products and agricultural raw materials, machinery, equipment, vehicles, chemical products, rubber, textiles, and footwear.
Gruzdev said the trade of services has enormous potential. “This above all concerns the tourism sector”, he said. “Tourist traffic to Indonesia is growing. We also hope for an increase in counter tourist traffic, especially in the run-up to the upcoming World Cup”.
The parties discussed the mutual access of agricultural products to the markets of the two countries as well as specific projects involving Russian-Indonesian cooperation, including the establishment of transport infrastructure on Kalimantan Island (Russian Railways), cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy (Rosatom), in air navigation (Azimut), and the supply of oil and gas equipment for the implementation of energy projects in Indonesia (OMZ). For its part, Russia expressed a willingness to cooperate with the state authorities of Indonesia to create transparent and predictable conditions for the activities of Russian companies in Indonesia. The Indonesian side confirmed its readiness for such a dialogue.
Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Gruzdev invited an Indonesian delegation to take part in the third Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 6–7, 2017 and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 24–26, 2018.
Source: economy.gov.ru
