"Trade continues to rise despite trade wars (between the People`s Republic of China and the United States)," Head of Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Kecuk Suhariyanto, said here on Monday.
Based on data from BPS, the value of non-oil exports to the People`s Republic of China in May 2018 amounted to US$278.9 million, up 15.37 percent compared to that in April 2018.
The value of non-oil and gas exports to the United States amounted to $143.4, up 10.03 percent in May 2018 compared to that in April 2018.
In the January-May 2018 period, China remained Indonesia`s largest export destination, with a value of $10.24, up 15.05 percent year-on-year, followed by the United States ($6.87 billion; 10.91 y-o-y).
As proclaimed, US stock prices fell on Thursday (June 21), with the Dow Jones index slumping for an eighth consecutive day following the shaken industrial stocks over fears of a trade war.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution, remarked that the improvement in the national export structure is important to overcome the impact of potential trade wars by developed countries.
"We have to compile a policy, either from the industry or from natural resources, to improve our exports," Nasution explained in Jakarta on Thursday (June 21).
The coordinating minister for economy ensured that Indonesia should seek opportunities from trade war to ensure that national trade performance would not interfere with the overall economic growth projection.
Earlier, senior economist Mari Elka Pangestu argued that the regional economic integration of Asian countries must outweigh the disruption of protectionism for external markets and the possibility of a global trade war.
"It is not to realize an Asian bloc, because if the Asian countries grow, then it will also contribute to the growth of the world economy," Pangestu noted in a discussion held at the office of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, on Wednesday (June 6).
The former trade minister elaborated that the phenomenon of protectionism and the possibility of a trade war is becoming a conversation nowadays. The turmoil is considered to disrupt world trade, especially involving the markets of traditional countries. *** 3 ***
Reporter: Muhammad Razi Rahman
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
