Jakarta. Indonesia wants to wrap up the trade agreement negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) -- of which Russia is a member -- later this year as Jakarta is hoping to not rely too much on traditional markets.

Indonesia is currently seeking to diversify its export markets from the usual China and Japan, among others. One of Jakarta’s strategies is to secure a trade deal with the EAEU -- an economic bloc that brings together Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. Last week, Armenia hosted the fourth round of negotiations, which saw some progress on the trade agreement. The next round is set to take place in Indonesia this July.

“If we keep this up, I’m optimistic we can meet the target of wrapping up the Indonesia-EAEU free trade agreement this year,” Johni Martha, the director for bilateral negotiations at the Trade Ministry, said in a statement.

The recent negotiation round saw both sides reaching a consensus on chapters related to standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures, as well as transparency.  Both sides already finished discussing the chapters on customs administration, trade facilitation, and intellectual property rights.

“By bolstering our trade ties with countries outside Asia and Western Europe, Indonesia can reduce its reliance on traditional markets,” Johni said.

Indonesia-EAEU trade went down from $4.3 billion in 2022 to $3.8 billion the following year. Indonesia mainly exported palm oil, copra, television sets, as well as electrical machines and equipment. Jakarta mostly imported coal, fertilizers, and wheat, among others, from the bloc.

Out of all EAEU members, Russia is Indonesia’s largest trading partner as expected. Russia-Indonesia trade amounted to $3.3 billion in 2023, far greater than the other EAEU economies. For comparison, Indonesia’s trade with Kazakhstan reached $344.3 million that year. Followed by Belarus ($89.1 million), Armenia ($8.2 million) and Kyrgyzstan ($7.4 million). However, Indonesia’s trade with Russia still falls behind traditional markets like China ($127.8 billion) and Japan ($37.3 billion).

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