JAKARTA: Indonesia is courting support from Saudi Arabia to speed up negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Trade Minister Budi Santoso said on Thursday after talks with the Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi.

Indonesia and the GCC launched talks for the FTA in July 2024, with nearly 90 percent of the agreement completed so far.

Santoso and Al-Kassabi met on Wednesday on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the US holds this year’s presidency of the forum of the world’s biggest economies.

“(We) discussed renewal of trade cooperation between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and pushed for the substantive conclusion of negotiations for the Indonesia-GCC (FTA) by the end of 2026,” Santoso said in a video posted on Instagram.  

Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade said that the talks were part of “a strategic step to open up more opportunities for Indonesia’s priority products to enter and compete in the Saudi market.”

Al-Kassabi “welcomed the push to speed up (the) conclusion of negotiations” for the Indonesia-GCC FTA, it added.

The Ministry of Trade told Arab News last month that Jakarta was seeking to advance technology transfer, strengthen food security and build supply-chain resilience from the deal with the GCC. 

Indonesia’s total trade with GCC countries was valued at $17 billion out of a total $524 billion in 2025. The Indonesian government is expecting the Indonesia-GCC FTA to increase the country’s total exports by more than 17 percent.

The main export commodities to the Gulf region include motor vehicles and automotive components, palm oil, and jewelry.

Jakarta has also been facilitating greater trade flows with the bloc’s members at a bilateral level, especially Saudi Arabia, with which ties have been on the rise in recent years. Last year, Indonesia-Saudi trade was valued at $6.53 billion. 

Santoso and Al-Kassabi also discussed closer cooperation in food trade and Indonesia’s participation at Expo 2030 Riyadh during their meeting, according to the ministry.

The Indonesian government and businesses have participated in various global events held across the Kingdom in recent years, including at the Gulf region’s biggest fashion exhibition, Saudi Fashiontex Expo, last month. 

A curated group of Indonesian fashion designers and companies presented modern interpretations of heritage textiles at the event, as they sought to enter the Kingdom’s booming luxury and modest clothing sectors.

At the Kingdom’s National Day celebrations in Jakarta last week, Saudi Ambassador Faisal Abdullah Amodi said that Riyadh was looking to strengthen strategic cooperation with Indonesia.