Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade is striving to optimise the country's role as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2023 to increase the volume of national exports, especially of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) products, to the region, a senior official has said.
Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga said on June 22 that Indonesia should take advantage of ASEAN chairmanship to turn its MSME products into superior products on an international level.
Domestic handicrafts, snacks, and clothing products have the potential to be exported to countries in the Southeast Asian region, he said, adding that Indonesian online games also have great and promising economic potential.
According to Sambuaga, President Joko Widodo has directed the Ministry of Trade to strive to ensure that Indonesia’s export products are processed ones that have added value.
The value of Indonesia’s exports to ASEAN countries reached 3.97 billion USD in May, an increase of 26.02% compared to the previous month, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
Indonesia's exports to some of the main trading partners in the region were on the rise. Its exports to Singapore climbed by 25.78% month-to-month to top 688.6 million USD while exports to Malaysia reached 958.1 million USD, up 19.23% against the previous month./.