Indonesia, Malaysia explore possibility of ASEAN-Egypt free trade pact
Indonesia and Malaysia have begun talks to explore the possibility of a free trade pact between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Egypt, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade said on Thursday.
Indonesia and Malaysia are among the founding members of ASEAN, a regional bloc established in 1967. The union is the world’s fifth-largest economy and home to some 670 million people.
The two countries have been working to increase their trade engagement with Egypt in recent years. Indonesia recorded a $1.11 billion trade surplus with the North African nation last year, while Egypt is Malaysia’s thirdlargest trading partner in Africa in 2022, with a $1.08 billion trade value.
Officials from the Indonesian
Embassy in Cairo and the Malaysia External Trade Development Cooperation, or MATRADE, held a meeting on Sunday in Cairo to discuss ways to boost cooperation between the Southeast Asian bloc and Egypt, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade said in a statement.
“We welcome MATRADE’s presence here to discuss the possibility of a free trade pact between ASEAN-Egypt. Egypt is a strategic business partner and an old friend of Indonesia and Malaysia,” M. Syahran Bhakti, trade attache at the Indonesian Embassy, said. Increasing trade and investment between ASEAN and Egypt is “very important,” he added, saying that Indonesia and Malaysia should also consider trading with Egypt in their respective local currencies. Last year, Indonesian and Egyptian businesses signed preliminary agreements with a potential value of more than $865 million during the visit of Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan. In February, Malaysia began talks to set up a palm oil export hub in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, as it seeks to make Egypt a key part of its strategy to expand palm oil exports to Africa.
“ASEAN countries can maximize the trade cooperation potential with Egypt to gain access to European and African markets,” Tennike, the economic coordinator at the Indonesian Embassy, said, adding that at the upcoming IndonesiaAfrica Forum in August 2024, Indonesia will showcase prospects of such increased partnership.