Malaysia, Indonesia Eye Further Growth In RM114 Bln Bilateral Trade - Johari
By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil
JAKARTA, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia have significant scope to expand bilateral trade beyond the RM114 billion recorded last year by strengthening trade facilitation and improving cross-border goods movement.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said improved trade facilitation could substantially increase transaction volume, with the Border Trade Agreement playing an important role in facilitating economic activities.
"What is important is that we can actually double, triple, quadruple transaction volume if the two countries can strengthen trade facilitation," he told Bernama after meeting his Indonesian counterpart Budi Santoso at the fourth Malaysia-Indonesia Joint Trade and Investment Committee (JTIC) meeting here today.
Malaysia’s Ambassador-designate to Indonesia Datuk Muzafar Shah Mustafa was also present at the meeting.
On bilateral trade, Johari said Malaysia exported goods totalling RM51 billion to Indonesia last year and imported RM62.6 billion, and was looking to raise exports.
He noted that bilateral trade increased by 10 per cent year-on-year to RM71.1 billion in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period a year ago.
During a joint press statement with Budi following the meeting, Johari said the Border Trade Agreement was among the major areas discussed, alongside Indonesia's export policies, investment cooperation, standard requirements and halal cooperation. Technical teams from both countries are working on the issues, he said.
“We signed the Border Trade Agreement in 2023. Hopefully, this agreement will facilitate a lot of economic activities between the two countries,” he said.
On Indonesia's new export policy for strategic natural-resource commodities being channelled via a designated state-owned entity, Johari said Malaysia understands its rationale and will comply.
On investment, Johari said Malaysia and Indonesia should further strengthen collaboration, noting that cumulative Malaysian investments in Indonesia between 2023 and 2025 totalled about RM70 billion, equivalent to some US$17 billion.
Both countries will benefit more from collaboration, with their respective leaderships working together, he said.
Budi, interviewed by Bernama together with Johari after the meeting, said Indonesia expects bilateral trade to continue rising alongside stronger investment flows.
"We expect trade between both countries to continue to rise; Malaysia's exports to Indonesia to increase and Indonesia's exports to Malaysia to also expand," he said.
Malaysia and Indonesia's close relationship as fellow ASEAN members and strong cultural affinity can strengthen mutual trust, thus supporting bilateral trade and investment growth, he said.
-- BERNAMA