Minister of Trade Todd McClay says he is encouraged by prospects for New Zealand’s beef and horticultural exports to Indonesia following a meeting with his counterpart in Jakarta today.

Mr McClay is currently in Indonesia, where he met for the first time with the new Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita.

Minister Lukita took office at the end of July.

“It was clear from our discussions that demand for beef in Indonesia exceeds domestic production, with prices being high. We agreed that New Zealand could play a role in addressing these imbalances,” says Mr McClay.

Historically Indonesia has been an important market for New Zealand beef exports. Restrictive regulations, however, have seen our beef exports fall by over 80 per cent to Indonesia, previously, New Zealand’s second largest beef export market.

“Indonesia has recently made a number of changes to their regulations and, following this meeting, I am cautiously optimistic that our beef exports to Indonesia will start to recover.

“Indonesian consumers would benefit from access to a wide range of New Zealand cuts and products.

“I emphasised the importance of greater certainty for our producers as part of a long-term trading relationship. We agreed that officials will continue to work through any issues that restrict access for New Zealand exporters.

“Minister Lukita and I also discussed the role of New Zealand as a partner for Indonesia, including in food and agriculture. In particular we noted New Zealand development projects to boost productivity in the beef and dairy sectors, as well as the success of Fonterra’s $40 million investment in a state-of-the-art dairy plant in Indonesia.

“Prime Minister Key and President Widodo set a clear goal for our trade relationship when they met in July of increasing two-way goods trade to NZ$4 billion by 2024,” says Mr McClay.

Indonesia is New Zealand’s 13th largest trading partner. Two-way goods trade is worth around NZ$1.6 billion, and is evenly balanced.

“It is clear that Indonesia and New Zealand have highly complementary economies, and there is no shortage of opportunity for growth.

“New Zealand and Indonesia have a rich economic relationship, spanning agricultural products, renewable energy, education, aviation, and ICT,” says Mr McClay.