Trade Minister Optimistic Indonesia's Trade Growth to Continue Amid Global Challenges
Trade Minister Budi Santoso is optimistic that Indonesia can still boost national trade amid global challenges. Positive growth in non-oil and gas exports for January-March 2026 demonstrates ongoing growth opportunities. The Ministry of Trade consistently promotes national trade growth through priority programmes that contribute to regional economic development.
Trade Minister Budi Santoso made the remarks as a panelist at the ‘National Conference on Regional Economic Development: Accelerating Regional Economic Growth through Cross-Sectoral Policy Synergy’ at Balai Kartini, Jakarta, on Monday (25 May). Also present was the Director General of National Export Development at the Ministry of Trade, Fajarini Puntodewi.
‘Indonesia still has the potential to continue increasing trade amid challenging global conditions. Our non-oil and gas exports grew by 0.98% in January-March 2026 compared to the same period last year, so we can still maintain positive growth,’ said Trade Minister Budi Santoso.
He stated that the Ministry of Trade has three priority programmes to accelerate national trade: Domestic Market Security, Export Market Expansion, and From Local to Global.
Through the Domestic Market Security Programme, the Ministry encourages local products to dominate the domestic market. He hopes local products can continuously enhance competitiveness to counter import dependency. Additionally, trade remedy instruments such as anti-dumping and safeguard measures can be utilised to protect the domestic market. ‘We want our large market filled with local products. The key is for products to be competitive. If we have good domestic products, we won’t need imports,’ said Trade Minister Budi Santoso.
For the Export Market Expansion Programme, the Ministry promotes access for Indonesian products to global markets through trade agreements. To date, 20 trade agreements have been implemented, 15 are in the ratification process, and 11 are under negotiation. Trade Minister Budi Santoso also mentioned efforts to maintain export markets in the United States through the Reciprocal Tariff Agreement (ART).
The next programme is From Local to Global, which encourages local businesses, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and rural entrepreneurs, to expand Indonesia’s products globally by becoming exporters.
The programme is divided into four clusters. The first cluster is MSMEs Innovative and Ready to Adapt (BISA) for Export. The Ministry facilitates MSMEs to penetrate global markets through support from 46 Indonesian trade representatives in 33 countries.
‘We want exports not just from large companies but also small ones. We have tasked Indonesian trade representatives to assist our businesses. Please contact the trade representatives for guidance to target export markets,’ said Trade Minister Budi Santoso.
Throughout 2025, the BISA Export MSMEs programme facilitated business matching involving 1,217 businesses. Total transactions in 2025 reached USD 134.87 million. For January-April 2026, total transactions amounted to USD 107.34 million, with 70% of businesses being new exporters who had not previously exported.