Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi explored plans for the creation of a bilateral trade deal over the weekend, as Cairo aims to catapult annual commerce to $5 billion.

On Sunday, the leaders spent hours at the palace for talks on beefing up export-import activities. Speaking to reporters before Sisi left the premise, Prabowo signaled that a deal for lower tariffs is in the pipeline.

“We have agreed to beef up our cooperation in trade and investment. We are pushing for a bilateral economic partnership agreement for greater market access, investment, and business participation,” Prabowo told the presser.

Sisi did not specifically comment on the trade agreement. However, Egypt — whose Indonesia-bound exports include fertilizers, salt, and fruits — wants to bring the yearly trade volume to $5 billion by 2030, according to Sisi. 

“We shall continue our efforts to remove any obstacles that may hinder the achievement of this goal," Sisi said.

Indonesia’s official data showed Egyptian trade rose by 40% year-on-year to almost $2.3 billion between January and August 2026. This was already close to the full-year $2.4 billion commerce seen in 2025, government data showed.

Egypt’s statistics, however, put the 2026 eight-month trade figure at $1.6 billion.

Jakarta had previously pitched a “preferential trade agreement” with Cairo, although accords of such scale usually grant tariff cuts on certain products. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is also open to the bigger “free trade agreement” framework.

Read More: Egypt's Sisi Arrives in Indonesia for Talks With Prabowo

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