inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Indonesian Vice Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti held a bilateral meeting with Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang in Singapore to strengthen trade cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting was a follow-up to the meeting between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in June 2025. It also strengthened the strategic cooperation between the two countries in the trade, investment, and sustainable development sectors.
According to Dyah, over the past five years, Singapore has consistently ranked among Indonesia's top five trading partners and is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.
"The trade value between Indonesia and Singapore reached $33.7 billion, with exports reaching $12.2 billion and imports reaching $21.5 billion for Indonesia. In addition to conventional commodities such as oil and gas and gold, I feel it is important to also pay attention to the potential of MSMEs," explained Vice Minister Dyah on Wednesday (8/6/2025).
Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to continuously increasing the value of bilateral trade and encouraging the integration of MSMEs, particularly women-owned ones, into the global supply chain.
Indonesia and Singapore also recognize the crucial role of MSMEs in strengthening economic structures and driving inclusive growth.
The Vice Minister of Trade emphasized that MSMEs in Indonesia contribute approximately 60 percent to the national GDP, and more than 64 percent of these MSMEs are owned by women.
"Empowering MSMEs, especially those owned by women, is not only an economic strategy, but also a form of social commitment to creating inclusive and sustainable development," said the Vice Minister.
As a concrete example, Minister Gan stated that Singapore has developed an SMEs Center, which serves as a training center for digitalization, artificial intelligence, and business network development.
Singapore also stated its readiness to initiate a women's MSME network between the two countries as part of collaborative efforts to empower women's economies in the region.
To support partnerships between business actors, the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) also has a representative in Surabaya, East Java, which has been actively implementing a business matching program.
Dyah welcomed these various initiatives and expressed the Indonesian Ministry of Trade's commitment to strengthening concrete collaboration with MTI, particularly in expanding the role of MSMEs in the global supply chain and promoting inclusive and competitive green economic growth.
She emphasized the importance of holding an annual ministry dialogue (AMD) between Indonesia and Singapore, which has yet to take place.
The forum is considered strategic for strengthening inter-ministerial communication, resolving technical trade issues, and accelerating export and import facilitation.
Minister Gan also welcomed the proposal and expressed Singapore's readiness to explore a suitable schedule.
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