Rp118 Trillion in Deals Reached During Prabowo's Visit to the US
WASHINGTON: President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Washington has yielded trade and investment agreements between Indonesian and American companies worth more than US$7 billion, or approximately Rp118 trillion.
The deals were signed at a dinner with Prabowo hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday (18 February) local time.
In a statement cited by Reuters, the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) said the trade agreements include purchases by Indonesian companies of 1 million metric tonnes of US soybeans, 1.6 million tonnes of corn, and 93,000 tonnes of cotton over an unspecified period.
The USABC added that Indonesia would purchase 1 million tonnes of wheat this year, rising to up to 5 million tonnes by 2030.
The USABC estimated the value of Indonesia’s soybean purchases at US$685 million (Rp11.6 trillion), wheat at US$1.25 billion (Rp21.3 trillion), cotton at US$122 million (Rp2.07 trillion), with an additional US$200 million (Rp3.39 trillion) in purchases of shredded used clothing from the US for recycling.
Between 2015 and 2024, Indonesia imported an average of 2.3 million metric tonnes of soybeans from the US per year, nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat, approximately 180,000 tonnes of cotton, and fewer than 100,000 tonnes of corn, according to US Census Bureau trade data.
In recent years, Indonesia has imported approximately US$3 billion worth of US agricultural products annually, making it the eleventh-largest market for all American agricultural products.
Not all agreements included transaction values, including Indonesia’s purchases of US timber and furniture products.
The deals also encompass a memorandum of understanding between US mining company Freeport-McMoRan and Indonesia’s Ministry of Investment on critical minerals cooperation, as well as an agreement between Pertamina and Halliburton Co to collaborate on oil field recovery, the USABC said.
Additionally, two semiconductor joint venture agreements were reached — one valued at US$4.89 billion (Rp82.9 trillion) involving Essence Global Group, and another of undisclosed value involving Tynergy Technology Group.
During the meeting, President Prabowo also invited US investors to come to Indonesia. According to Prabowo, Indonesia has successfully maintained economic and political stability across various sectors.
Indonesia, the President continued, has also undertaken reforms towards clean governance and strengthened law enforcement to prevent corruption and cartels.
“We are open, we need investment, and we want more investment, and we believe we are competitive, we are attractive, and we have vast mineral reserves needed for the production of new technologies,” Prabowo said in his address, as quoted by Antara.
During his visit to the US, Prabowo was also scheduled to attend the inaugural session of the Board of Peace on Thursday local time. On the same day, Prabowo was set to meet Trump to sign a reciprocal trade agreement (Agreement on Reciprocal Trade/ART), negotiations for which have been under way since last year.