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Indonesia-Turkey Strengthen Economic Cooperation Through CEO Roundtable Meeting

In the midst of President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit to Turkey to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and become a speaker at the Leader’s Talk at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto represented the President of the Republic of Indonesia in giving a keynote speech at the Turkiye-Indonesia CEO Roundtable Meeting. 

The event, held by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), was attended by more than 50 business leaders from both countries. They came from various sectors, including defense, technology, construction, infrastructure, energy, health, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, vocational education, and human resource development. 

Also present at the Turkiye-Indonesia CEO Roundtable Meeting were Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso, Indonesian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey Achmad Rizal Purnama, Director General of America and Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Umar Hadi, and Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Anindya Bakrie. 

READ ALSO: Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates Agree on Investment in the Dairy Sector, Ministry of Agriculture Ready to Monitor "Indonesia and Turkey need to strengthen economic cooperation and see the enormous potential between the two countries, amidst global uncertainty and the recent protectionist trend by the United States," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga, in a written statement obtained by Agricom.id. 

Coordinating Minister Airlangga added that the two countries have quite strong economic fundamentals, supported by high domestic consumption. The year 2025 will mark 75 years of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Turkey, making strengthening cooperation to the next stage very important. Currently, the trade value between the two countries has reached around USD2.4 billion and is targeted to increase to USD10 billion. For this reason, accelerating the implementation of the limited preferential trade agreement is considered important. Through this agreement, the two countries can focus on eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers on main products, with a shorter negotiation process. 

"Turkey sees Indonesia as a major partner and hub for trade in the ASEAN region," said Turkish Deputy Minister of Trade Ozgur Volkan Agar. Turkey already has free trade cooperation with Malaysia and Vietnam so it is imperative that the limited preferential trade agreement be completed soon, in line with the mandate of both countries. On the other hand, Indonesia can also see Turkey as a hub to enter the European Union market and support the acceleration of the completion of the Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiations. 

"There is potential for Turkish agricultural products to enter the Indonesian market, and vice versa Turkey is also open to exports of Indonesian agricultural and forestry products to the Turkish market," explained Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yukmali. These products can be raw materials for the food and beverage industry and the craft industry sector in Turkey so that they can provide benefits for both countries. He emphasized that trade protectionism currently being carried out by several countries in the world will actually slow down global economic growth and the world's major countries. 

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Tag: Airlangga Hartarto Antalya Diplomacy Forum Indonesia Turkey