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UAE, Indonesia to Boost Trade Co-operation

The agreement came after the Indonesian trade minister received several project proposals from UAE investors showing intention to establish new partnerships in sectors like food products, oil and gas, construction services, commodities, manufactured goods, furniture and designed products, and automobile.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Pangestu said that Indonesia is now looking for expansion and new trading partners to avoid the impact of a slowdown in trade with its traditional importers such as the US, Europe, and Japan, due to the global economic crisis.

She stressed that Indonesia is very keen on Dubai because of the vast opportunities for investment is in the emirate. “A big Indonesian construction company, Wastika Karya, is now being contracted to build the Abu Dhabi Financial Centre. More Indonesian construction companies are coming into the UAE. Our garments are highly competitive and we are able to compete with China effectively in the UAE.”

The trade minister said that 80 per cent of Indonesia’s automobile and spare parts exports to the UAE is re-exported to other Gulf countries. “These automobile parts are made in Japan, but they are assembled in Indonesia to be sent to the UAE for re-export.”

She said that like China and India, Indonesia has a large domestic market, which helps it to be resilient in times of crisis. “Our Gross Domestic Product is expected to achieve a 4.5 per cent growth despite the economic contraction worldwide because our country has two major sources of growth; massive domestic consumption and strong fiscal stimulus.”

lily@khaleejtimes.com