Indonesia and Turkey Signed a Counter-Trade Cooperation That Will Commence in January

JAKARTADAILY.ID - Indonesia and Turkey signed a counter-trade cooperation deal that will start in January 2022.

The signing of this counter-trade cooperation was carried out virtually by the President Director of PT PPI Nina Sulistyowati and the President of Turk Barter International AS (TBI AS) Muhammet Sirri Simsek, in the middle of last week, witnessed by the Director-General of National Export Development (PEN) of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) Republic of Indonesia Didi Sumedi, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to Turkey Lalu Muhammad Iqbal. Also present were Ankara Trade Attaché in Turkey, Eric Gokasi Nababan, the Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI), PT Bank Negara Indonesia or BNI, PT askrindo, and PT Kurhans Trans.

Nina Sulistyowati explained that the signing of the MoU with Turkey is one of PT PPI's targets in 2021. This collaboration is clear proof of PT PPI's commitment to supporting the inter-business counter-trade cooperation program helmed by the Ministry of Trade.

"PT PPI is ready to carry out its role as a coordinator that bridges domestic exporters and importers. We will continue to coordinate with TBI as the coordinator in Turkey to finalize the products to be traded immediately after the signing of the MoU. We are targeting real transactions to be realized in January 2022," he said.

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Some of the products that Indonesia offers in this barter agreement include palm oil, tin, staple fibers of viscose rayon, natural rubber, single yarn, cocoa powder, dried coconut, and frozen skipjack. Meanwhile, the products offered by Turkey include tobacco, wheat, ice cream, automatic household appliances, ceramics, olive oil, electric transformers, and aluminum hydroxide.

Counter-trade cooperation is one of the options for business actors from the two countries in the midst of world economic conditions during the pandemic. Turkey is currently experiencing a significant decline in the value of its currency and barter is one of the trading transaction options that many companies in Turkey take advantage of.

Previously, from November 25 to 28, 2021, Indonesia had also participated in the 7th World Halal Summit and 8th OIC Halal Expo in Istanbul, Turkey. Indonesia managed to record transactions worth USD 3.8 million and four MoUs for trade cooperation.

35 Countries

Since the beginning of 2021, the Ministry of Trade has carried out intensive assessments in the framework of cooperation in the b to b counter-trade scheme with 35 countries in the world. The 11 countries that gave positive responses include Mexico, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Italy, Hungary, France, the Philippines, India, and Iran.

The total value of Indonesia's non-oil and gas trade to Turkey for the January-October 2021 period was recorded at USD 1.67 billion. Indonesia's total non-oil and gas exports to Turkey amounted to USD 1.34 billion. Meanwhile, the value of Indonesia's imports from Turkey was USD 325.7 million. Thus, Indonesia recorded a surplus of USD 1.01 billion.

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Indonesia's leading export commodities to Turkey include vegetable oil, natural rubber, fibers, stainless steel, and electric transformers. Meanwhile, Indonesia's main import commodities from Turkey include carbonates, tobacco, borate, furnace accessories, and yarn.

Meanwhile, Didi Sumedi said, “This is a breakthrough effort to accelerate the national economic recovery. Indonesia has long explored counter-trade cooperation as a new strategy to increase exports. Since 2019, exploration of the b to b counter-trade scheme has been introduced and encouraged to be more implemented," he explained.