Indonesia, Bangladesh kick off pre-trade talks

“Indonesia and Bangladesh are aware of the great trade potential that can be explored,” said the Trade Ministry’s international trade negotiation director-general, Iman Pambagyo, who led the Indonesian delegation in the IB-PTA pre-meeting in Jakarta last Wednesday.
“As a country with a growing economy and a large population, Bangladesh has an opportunity to become a major trade destination for Indonesia,” Iman said in a statement.
The other topic agreed to during the meeting was the completion of the terms of reference (ToR) for the trade negotiating committee (TNC) for the second IB-PTA pre-meeting.
The meeting on the IB-PTA was a follow-up to a meeting between Indonesia President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit in Jakarta in March, 2017.
During the meeting, the two heads of state agreed to strengthen trade cooperation between the two Asian countries through establishing a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), trade between the two countries reached US$1.33 billion (Bt42.35 billion) in 2016 with Indonesia enjoying a significant surplus of $1.19 billion.
During the period between January and October, 2017, Indonesia’s trade with Bangladesh reached $1.31 billion, while Bangladesh’s exports to Indonesia totalled $60.4 million.
Indonesia mainly exports palm oil, coal, pulp and paper to Bangladesh, while Bangladesh exports garments, lady’s bags and sacks to Indonesia, among other items.