Nigeria recorded a favorable trade balance of $2.6 billion in its bilateral trade relations with Indonesia in 2021.
This was revealed yesterday by the Chairman of the Nigerian Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), Mr. Ishmael Balogun, during a press conference to announce the Nigerian Indonesian Investment and Trade Forum 2022, which would be held in Jakarta, Indonesia between October 17 and October 27, 2022.
Balogun said a deliberate effort is needed to raise the trade balance to $4 billion in favor of Nigeria in 2023 by attracting more foreign direct investment from Indonesia to Nigeria and showcasing the best of Nigerian products for the export trade with Indonesia in particular and the rest. of the world in general.
He said: “Our (Nigeria’s) trade balance with Indonesia in 2021 was exactly $2.6 billion. I think we can actually do better than that. And that’s why we need to take deliberate action. For this reason, we said that we are going to do the Nigeria Trade Mission to Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“We want the trade balance to reach $4 billion by 2023. And to do that, we are sensitizing Nigerian business elites and informing them that Indonesia is a place where there are opportunities in agriculture, l horticulture, pharmaceuticals, beauty and lifestyle, aviation, defense, digital economy and green energy If they do it well, we have a lot to learn from them.
“The main reason we go on a trade mission is that we want to attract foreign direct investment to Nigeria. This is also why we partner with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council. export promotion (NEPC).
“We are very clear on what we want to achieve because we want to tell Indonesian companies that we have verified entities in Nigeria that they can do business with and be assured that everything will go smoothly.
“On the other hand, we are partnering with NEPC because we also want to show the world that beyond oil, Nigeria has potential in non-oil exporting. So we want to show the best of Nigeria to the world. Indonesia and the rest of the world.”
“So, I invite the Nigerian business community to come with NICCI on this business exposure trip to Jakarta, Indonesia. Our plan is to take at least 150 Nigerian businessmen and women on this of this trip, to attract investment to Nigeria and at the same time showcase the best that Nigeria has to offer outside of crude oil.”
Speaking at the press conference, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Ambassador Usman Ogeh said the two countries have similarities in terms of natural resources but stressed the need for both countries to deepen their trade relations in order to develop their natural resources.
Ogeh urged participants attending the forum to use the summit to transform their businesses while promoting the good image of credible Nigerian businesses.
The Director of the Indonesian Trade Promotion Council (ITPC), Mr. Hendro Jonathan, said that Indonesia has maintained a 4% growth in GDP over the past five years despite the pandemic, adding that the Indonesian economy was resilient and ready to do business. with Nigeria.
Jonathan praised the Nigerian government for promoting non-oil exports, saying that Nigeria’s total exports to Indonesia are almost 10 times larger than Indonesia’s exports to Nigeria.
He said: “These are mainly crude oil products, but non-oil exports have increased by more than 46% since January 2022 to date.”
He urged interested participants to register for the expo online, adding that the expo is the first international expo the country has hosted since the pandemic outbreak.
