Jakarta. Indonesia aims to clinch a Moroccan trade deal by 2027 as it seeks to maintain its global palm oil dominance.

Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri revealed Friday that she recently held a meeting with Omar Hejira, the Moroccan secretary of state in charge of foreign trade. The discussions put emphasis on securing the bilateral trade deal, while targeting a “mutually beneficial” market access.

Roro also named palm oil — be it crude or refined — as some of the “unrealized export potential” in Morocco, despite Indonesia being the world’s top supplier of this edible oil.

“We are ready to work with Morocco constructively to speed up the negotiations,” Roro said.

“Our export potential is significant, but has not sufficiently reached Moroccan markets, especially for anhydrous ammonia, crude and refined palm oil, semi-finished iron and steel, and frozen shrimp.”

Roro did not say how big a tariff cut Indonesia expected out of this trade deal. 

She indicated Indonesia’s intention to buy more Moroccan fertilizers and aluminium.

According to Roro, Indonesia can be Morocco’s access to ASEAN customers. In return, Rabat may open up doors for Jakarta to unlock African, European, and Mediterranean markets.

India and China are the traditional buyers of Indonesian palm oil, but flows to Morocco are gaining speed. 

Trade Ministry data showed Indonesia’s first-half exports to Morocco rose 37% year-on-year (yoy) to $180.4 million. About $34 million of those shipments fell into the animal fats and vegetable oil category that also encompasses palm oil. This was double the amount that Indonesia recorded in January-June 2025. It already topped the annual Morocco-bound animal fat/vegetable oil shipments, which reached $29.7 million in 2025.

Palm Oil under Danantara's Watch
Jakarta’s pursuit of a Moroccan trade deal came amidst President Prabowo Subianto’s move to tighten state grip over palm oil exports to stem revenue loss from dishonest exporters. The sovereign fund has even created a new unit, the Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI), for this export oversight job. Its current tasks mainly revolve around cross-checking the export documents and prices, with a plan to track the ships carrying palm oil in the pipeline. 

DSI boss Luke Mahony said the state entity would stick to the “export intermediary” role for now. He, however, signaled the possibility of DSI switching to other models, although this remains subject to evaluations on whether the current intermediary approach is enough to curb under-invoicing. He also recently reiterated that DSI’s presence as an intermediary would not change the current buyer-seller relationship.

“The flow of commodities and financing still happens between the buyer and seller,” Mahony told a press conference earlier this week.

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