Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia has exported gold jewellery worth US$286.98 million to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the 49 days since the implementation of the Indonesia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA).
On 8 September, Indonesia exported its first shipment of gold jewellery worth US$6.98 million under the IUAE-CEPA. On 19 October, gold jewellery exports from Indonesia were valued at US$280 million, bringing the total value of exported gold jewellery to US$286.98 million.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the Indonesian gold jewellery export contract with the UAE in Tangerang on Thursday, Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis said that the implementation of the IUAE-CEPA has forged a closer bilateral relationship between the two countries, especially in trade and investment.
“The coming years are a momentum that should not be missed by business actors and stakeholders in Indonesia to implement strategic partnership projects,” he added in a press release issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Muhammad Khomaini, head of the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) in Dubai, said Indonesia currently ranks seventh among jewellery suppliers to the UAE market after India, Turkey, Italy, France, Singapore and Malaysia.
With the IUAE-CEPA in place, it is hoped that Indonesian companies will take advantage of the momentum to boost exports of jewellery and other leading products, thus helping Indonesian products become more competitive, he added.
The IUAE-CEPA, which came into force on 1 September, covers various areas including trade in goods, trade in services, investment and digital trade.
The agreement is expected to increase total trade between the two countries to more than US$10 billion within three years.
According to ITC Trademap data, Indonesian jewellery exports to the world have grown by 16.6 percent annually over the past five years, reaching a value of US$3.78 billion in 2022.
The top five export markets for Indonesian jewellery in 2022 are Switzerland (US$1.6 billion), Singapore (US$605 million), Jordan (US$443 million), the United Arab Emirates (US$364 million) and the United States (US$330 million).
Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, total trade between Indonesia and the UAE was recorded at US$5.06 billion in 2022.
Of this total, Indonesia’s exports to the UAE were pegged at US$2.30 billion and its imports from the UAE were recorded at US$2.76 billion.
Indonesia’s exports to the UAE are dominated by products such as jewellery, footwear, textiles and agricultural products. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s imports from the UAE are dominated by products such as crude oil, petrochemicals and plastic products.
