Minister Budi: Strategic Trade Management Essential

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta — Indonesia is leveraging the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 framework to strengthen international trust and secure broader export market access. Strategic Trade Management (STM) serves as a vital instrument to harmonize national security with industrial growth and MSME global expansion.

Trade Minister Budi Santoso, highlighted this strategic advantage during his opening address at the 5th Annual Southeast Asia Forum on Export Controls (SEAFEC) 2026 in Jakarta on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. He was accompanied by key trade ministry officials, including Foreign Trade Director General Tommy Andana and International Trade Negotiations Director General Johni Martha.

"STM can support the Ministry of Trade's priority programs, namely safeguarding the domestic market, expanding export markets, and going local to global," Minister Budi stated during the forum. The implementation of STM ensures that sensitive goods and technologies are securely managed while boosting international confidence in Indonesian businesses.

Inter-ministerial coordination continues to advance to strike the right balance between national resilience and business competitiveness amid rapid technological shifts. The national STM framework will be introduced progressively to grant local industries and institutions sufficient preparation time.

"Our goal is to develop a risk-based Indonesian STM system that strengthens strategic trade controls without becoming a barrier to trade, research, and technology access," Budi emphasized. Indonesia remains firmly committed to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction under multilateral frameworks.

Regional platforms like SEAFEC provide an essential space for government officials, industry leaders, and academic experts to share best practices. Collaborative regulatory alignment across Southeast Asia ensures the region remains secure and resilient as a central hub of global growth.

"This SEAFEC forum gives us the opportunity to work together as partners by sharing best practices, aligning our systems, and building a regional strategic trade management framework," U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. to ASEAN Thao Anh Tran remarked. Regional cooperation in export controls ultimately protects modern supply chains and technological security.