"I hope the crisis in Egypt does not reach the Suez Canal because it would definitely affect Indonesia`s trade, especially with European countries," Robert J Bintaryo, a spokesman of the Trade Ministry said here Tuesday.
The Suez Canal played an important role in the sea transportation of commercial goods, Robert said at a press briefing on the annual report on the Trade Ministry`s performance in 2010.
However, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu couldn`t comment much on the possible impact of the Egyptian crisis on Indonesian trade.
"We`ll wait and see what is going to happen in Egypt. The problem now is the oil price that has reached more than US$100 per barrel," the trade minister said.
According to data from the Trade Ministry, the trade value between Indonesia and Egypt in 2010 reached US$960,613,000 or 38.61 percent higher than that of 2009 which reached US$693,036,000.
On the occasion, Mari also said Indonesia`s non-oil/non-gas exports in 2010 had exceeded the target.
"The non-oil/non-gas export performance in 2010 which reached US$129.7 billion has set a new record in the Indonesian economy," she said.
The increase in the 2010 non-oil/non-gas exports is three-and-a- half times higher than the 2009 Medium-term Development Plan target which was set at 7 to 8.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the total trade value of oil and non-oil/non-gas commodities in 2010 was recorded at US$157.7 billion and it also set a new record in the Indonesian economy.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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