How is Indonesian-Turkish Trade?

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his entourage departed for Turkey on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, at 7:20 AM WIB from Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, Jakarta. This is a reciprocal visit following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Jakarta in 2015.

President Jokowi will use this visit to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields, ranging from economics and strategic industries to counter-terrorism. As is known, Indonesia-Turkey trade has been declining since 2014 until 2016. Data from the Ministry of Trade shows that bilateral trade in 2013 reached US$2.85 billion (approximately Rp 34.9 trillion), but in 2016 it fell to US$1.02 billion. However, Indonesia has consistently recorded a trade surplus with Turkey.

The biggest decline in bilateral trade occurred in 2015, dropping by 43 percent to US$1.4 billion from the previous year. Indonesian exports fell by almost 20 percent to US$1.16 billion, and imports from Turkey plummeted by almost 76 percent to US$249.8 million. Meanwhile, during the first quarter of 2017, Indonesia-Turkey trade recorded a growth of 2.8 percent, reaching US$386.9 million compared to the same quarter of the previous year.