Trade Minister: National Trade to Grow Amid Global Challenges

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia's Trade Minister, Budi Santoso, expressed optimism that national trade will continue to grow positively amid global challenges, as Indonesia’s non-oil and gas exports still recorded growth in the first quarter of 2026. Budi Santoso made the statemen during the “National Conference on Regional Economic Development: Accelerating Regional Economic Growth through Cross-Sector Policy Synergy” at Balai Kartini, Jakarta, on Monday, May 25, 2026.

“If we look at it, our non-oil and gas export growth in January–March 2026 compared to the same period last year grew by 0.98 percent. So, in fact, we are still able to maintain positive growth,” he said in an official statement from Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade received in Jakarta on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

He said the Ministry of Trade continues to encourage regional economic development through three priority programs, namely Domestic Market Protection, Export Market Expansion, and From Local to Global.

Through the Domestic Market Protection Program, the ministry encourages local products to dominate the domestic market by improving competitiveness and utilizing trade remedy instruments such as anti-dumping and safeguard measures.

“We want our large domestic market to be filled with local products. The key is that products must be competitive. If we already have strong domestic products, we do not need imports,” he said.

Under the Export Market Expansion Program, the Ministry of Trade continues to open access for Indonesian products to global markets through various trade agreements. To date, 20 trade agreements have been implemented, 15 are in the ratification process, and 11 others are still under negotiation.

The ministry is also seeking to maintain export access to the United States through the Agreement Reciprocal Tariff (ART).

Meanwhile, the From Local to Global program aims to encourage local businesses, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), to become exporters. The program consists of four clusters: MSMEs BISA Export, Export Villages, Campuspreneur, and MSME partnerships.

Through the MSMEs BISA Export program, the Ministry of Trade facilitates businesses in entering global markets with support from 46 Indonesian trade representatives in 33 countries.

“We want exports to come not only from large companies, but also from small businesses. We have assigned Indonesian trade representatives to assist our business players,” Budi Santoso said.

Throughout 2025, the MSMEs BISA Export program facilitated business matching activities involving 1,217 business actors, generating total transactions worth US$134.87 million.

Meanwhile, from January to April 2026, total transactions reached US$107.34 million, with around 70 percent of participating businesses being first-time exporters.