Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian Ministry of Trade has facilitated the signing of 18 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) and Single Purchasing Statements (SPS) between Indonesian businesses and their trading partners in Malaysia worth 87.89 million U.S. dollars.

“In the January - August period this year, the total trade between Indonesia and Malaysia reached 13.4 billion dollars. Compared to the same period last year, the increase is surprisingly at 49.3 percent," said Director General of National Export Development at the ministry, Didi Sumedi, said in a written statement received here on Tuesday (Nov. 2).

The signing of the trade partnership includes commodities of foods and beverages, palm acid oil, coffee, tea, spices, herbal drinks, and Muslim clothing.

The signing of the trade contract took place in the second week of the 2021 Trade Expo Indonesia Digital Edition (TEI–DE) which is taking place on October 21–November 4, 2021.

According to Didi, the signing of the contract showed the revival of trade between Indonesia and Malaysia in recent years.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono, who also witnessed the signing, said that the current economic condition in Malaysia has begun to recover.

This is shown by the various economic sectors’ movements which are in line with the easing of social restrictions policy by the Malaysian government.

“The economic sectors have started to run in Malaysia, giving a direct effect on increasing demand for various products, especially from Indonesia. We hope that this condition will continue to develop so that it can return to pre-COVID-19 economic conditions," said Hermono.

In the January–August period 2021, Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of 2.01 billion dollars, resulting from Indonesia's exports to Malaysia of 7.68 billion dollars and Indonesia's imports from Malaysia of 5.67 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, in the January–August period 2020, Indonesia's total trade value with Malaysia was recorded at 9 billion dollars.

Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of 593 million dollars, resulting from Indonesia's exports to Malaysia of 4.79 billion dollars and Indonesia's imports from Malaysia of 4.20 billion dollars.

Reporting by Indonesia Window