There is huge potential for Indonesian companies to boost exports to the UAE, according to a new analysis from Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The opportunities are especially in the categories of commodities, industrial products, and textiles, which that traders in both countries can capitalize on, the chamber said.
The analysis was released in the lead-up to the inaugural Global Business Forum ASEAN, organized by the chamber in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai.
The chamber, in a statement on its website, said the UAE was among the top 20 import-partner countries of Indonesia.
However, Indonesia is not even among the top 30 export and import markets for the UAE.
This, the chamber said, indicates that there is an enormous array of untapped opportunities to increase mutual cooperation and bilateral trade between the two countries.
The analysis apparently identified 10 high-potential products that Indonesian traders can export to the UAE.
The UAE’s imports of these 10 products in 2020 were apparently valued at $125 million, but Indonesia’s share of the UAE’s imports of these products was less than 15 percent.
Clothing, wood products, prawns, coffee, and coconut products were also highlighted as in-demand Indonesian products that could be exported to the UAE and re-exported through the country to African, European, and Middle-Eastern markets.
Raw gold, unwrought aluminum, and ethylene polymers were among the top 10 products that could be exported from the UAE to Indonesia, said the chamber.
The analysis valued Indonesia’s imports of these materials during the year 2020 at approximately $307 million, with the UAE accounting for 15 percent of this trade value.
The findings are said to have indicated that there is plenty of scope for Indonesia to expand its cooperation with the UAE in the area of food security as the Southeast Asian country was the seventh-largest food exporter in the world in 2020, while the UAE imports about 80 percent of its food requirements.
In addition, infrastructure was regarded as a sector where UAE companies could tap into attractive investment opportunities in the Indonesian market, as Indonesia is looking to boost its infrastructure spending to more than $430 billion over the next the years, said the chamber.