VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The entourage of Indonesian trade mission to India in a bid to attend meeting and the 4th exhibition of the India-ASEAN 2019 from 21-23 February 2019 brought positive outcome for the country's economy. Kompas Newspaper on Monday (Feb 25) reported that besides giving opportunity to reduce the customs tariff for the derivative products of crude palm oil, the trade mission succeeded at helping Indonesia's products penetrate the Indian market.The Indian Government would like to reduce customs tariff from 50-45% for the derivative products of crude palm oil, which is the same as the one applied for Malaysia's products. It is one of the points of the Indonesian trade mission delegates led by Indonesian Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita.A number of Indonesian enterprises receive the opportunity to expand their produts to India. The products which can be exported comprise not only the derivative products of crude palm oil but also jewelry, food and beverages, as well as textile products.Director General of the National Export Development at the Indonesian Trade Minister, Arlinda said that the Indian businesspeople also explore the opportunity of purchasing rubber products, spices, and paper from Indonesia. There were at least five Indian businesspeople who attended the business exploration held on the sidlines of the India ASEAN Meeting and Expo to explore the opportunity of Indonesia's rubber commodity.Minister Enggartiasto reported to journalists that the demand of rubber has increased in Indonesia which is the same as their need over vegetable oil. According to Minister Enggartiasto, most of the time, India has always imported rubber from Singapore. However, the rubber itself came from Indonesia.Enggartiasto affirmed the importance of partnership and collaborative principles in trade cooperation. Enggartiasto viewed India as the 4th biggest trade partner of Indonesia but trade is not the matter of rank, benefits, and deficit. The true essence of trade partnership is how trade can support the development and prosperity of the society in both participating countries.The total trade value between Indonesia and India reached US$ 18.7 billion From the trade, Indonesia gained a surplus of US$ 8.7 billion. Meanwhile, 60% of Indonesia's total exports is composed from crude palm oil.