Indonesia's Trade with 6 ASEAN Countries Increases by 14 Percent

Indonesia's trade with six ASEAN countries—Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei Darussalam—increased by 14.43 percent to Rp 62.89 billion (approximately US$4.6 billion based on the exchange rate at the time of writing) during the January-October 2017 period compared to the same period the previous year. Trade with Singapore was the highest, reaching US$ 24.08 billion.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's trade with Malaysia reached US$ 14.01 billion and with Thailand US$ 13.04 billion during the January-October 2017 period, growing by 20.4 percent and 10.9 percent respectively. Trade with the Philippines grew by 21.89 percent to US$ 6.07 billion, and with Vietnam it increased by 13.36 percent to US$ 5.59 billion. However, trade with Brunei Darussalam decreased by 29.37 percent to US$ 96.1 million.

(Read Databoks: Indonesia's Exports to ASEAN Increase by 13 Percent)

Bank Indonesia (BI), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) launched a local currency settlement framework on December 11, 2017. This collaboration aims to promote bilateral trade and direct investment settlements among the three countries using local currencies. One of the goals is to reduce the reliance on the United States dollar in transactions.