Indonesia-Egypt Bilateral Trade Increases 28 Percent

Cairo (Antara Bali)- The value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and Egypt in Q1 of 2015 reached US$862.83 million, up 28 percent from US$670.23 million in the same period last year.

During the January-June 2015 period, Indonesia's exports to Egypt increased to US$704.31 million, or up by 18.36 percent from US$595.05 million in the same period last year, according to data provided by the Indonesian embassy's trade attache department.

Egypt's exports to Indonesia in Q1 this year were recorded at US$158.51 million, up 110.86 percent from US$75.177 million in Q1 of the previous year.

Indonesian Trade Attache Burman noted that Indonesia's main products exported to the Middle East nation include palm oil, coffee, tire, paper, freezers and refrigerators, and synthetic and artificial filament yarns.

Palm oil exports to Egypt from January to March this year reached US$87.70 million, down 65.6 percent from US$145.24 million noted during the same period last year.

The exports of artificial filament yarn during the January-March period surged to US$10.66 million, or up 21.8 percent from US$8.33 million in the same period last year.

The value of coffee exports decreased to US$8.20 million, or 11.2 percent from US$9.13 million.

Lauti Nia Sutedja, the embassy's sociocultural and information coordinator, stated that in 2014, bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$1.49 billion, or an increase of 21.02 percent from US$1.2 billion in 2013.

Last year, Indonesia's exports to Egypt reached US$1.3 billion, or up 21.7 percent from US$1.1 billion in 2013.

Indonesia's imports from Egypt in 2014 were valued at US$146 million, or an increase of 15.1 percent from US$127 million in 2013.

In the meantime, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to receive his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fatah al-Sisi at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Friday.

Jokowi will receive the Egyptian president at 4:15 p.m. local time after an official state ceremony at the yard of Merdeka Palace.

After the ceremony, the two leaders will hold a private meeting, which will then be followed by a bilateral meeting between the delegations of both countries.

During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in several fields between the two countries will be signed in the presence of Presidents Jokowi and Al-Sisi. (WDY)