- Indonesia-Saudi trade hits $3.2B in H1 2025, eyes further growth.
- Key exports: vehicles, palm oil; imports: petroleum, alcohols, sulfur.
- Ministers plan G20 meeting for enhanced cooperation via delegations.
In August 2025, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia proclaimed their intentions to boost bilateral trade relations and spur growth in both economies. For the first half of 2025, trade reached US$3.2 billion between the two countries (Indonesian exports US$1.7 billion and imports US$1.5 billion). Indonesian Trade Minister Budi Santoso (Busan) pointed to Saudi Arabia as the 18th largest export destination (2024) and the 12th largest source of imports for Indonesia (2024). Full trade reached US$6.6 billion in 2024 which included US$2.6 billion Indonesian exports and US$4.4 billion in imports.
Indonesia's major exports to Saudi Arabia include motor vehicles, palm oil, light vessels, sauces, processed products (goods made from other goods), and iron pipes. Major imports into Indonesia from Saudi Arabia include crude petroleum oil, non-crude petroleum oil, petroleum gas, cyclical alcohols, and sulfur.
Saudi Trade Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, in a virtual meeting on August 21, 2025, indicated an interest in further enhancing the cooperation and exploring untapped potential in products, goods, and services. He proposed exchanging information as a starting point to enhance trade.
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To address the matter, Minister Santoso mentioned that the potential exists to increase volumes of trade, and expressed excitement at the proposed suggestions put forward by Saudi Arabia. He identified some of the ways we could engage and enable our individual post-COVID recovery through business delegation visits and participation at trade exhibitions, noting the recent delegations from Indonesia currently visiting one of these trade exhibitions, as one example.
The two Ministers would meet again at the G20 Ministerial Meeting in October 2025 for a further discussion on advancing the partnership. This "Emerging Farmers Partnership" is part of a broader regional conference, where Indonesia's economic growth will provide a reference to ASEAN, while regional trade issues remain unresolved such as the EU biodiesel duty case that saw the WTO rule in favour of Indonesia recently.