Trade minister committed to maintaining Indonesia's trade balance

Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto remains resolute to maintaining the country's balance of trade and controlling imports in line with the mandates of President Joko Widodo.

"The Trade Ministry is ready to implement the two mandates of President Joko Widodo," he noted in Jakarta on Friday.

The two mandates are first; maintaining the balance of trade through the conclusion of trade agreements and conducting a study to proffer benefits to the national economy, and second; selectively controlling imports by prioritizing the imports of raw and auxiliary materials for the purpose of export goods and investment.

To realize the two mandates, the Trade Ministry adopts three main policies; first, maintaining the trade of balance by stepping up non-oil/non-gas exports; second, strengthening the domestic market by setting the food inflation target of three percent; and third, simplifying bureaucracy supported by professional and competent human resources.

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The government has targeted the export of goods and services to grow 4.5-8.63 percent and the export of non-oil/non-gas commodities to increase to 6.88-12.23 percent.

The trade minister affirmed that the three policies are interpreted into the ministry's three priority programs.

The first priority program is achieving the realistic export target in the midst of the global economic downturn by concluding international trade agreements, activating trade mission to non-traditional markets, and intensifying the active role of trade attaches and Indonesian Trade Promotion Centers as the business agent.

The second program is securing and strengthening the domestic market by controlling imports selectively, stabilizing the prices of basic commodities to control inflation, especially in the lead-up to Christmas and the New Year’s Eve, and encouraging startups, among others.

The third program aims to simplify bureaucracy and develop quality human resources by revising 18 export and import regulations.

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