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By Shams Abbasi
ISLAMABAD, Dec 07 (APP):Business Community and Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Sunday felicitated the President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto two days visit to Pakistan starting from December 8th to 9th 2025.
Meanwhile talking to APP here, President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Atif Ikram Sheikh has termed the two-day visit of the Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto to Pakistan, which began on coming Monday, as a milestone and significant for the bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries.
President FPCCI said that Indonesia is an important trading partner of Pakistan with which the volume of bilateral trade has reached $4.7 billion in the last Fiscal Year, 2024-25 which has room for further improvement in trade ties.
At present, the bilateral trade between the two countries is less than its potential, which both sides will have to negotiate on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to increase.
Atif Ikram said that Pakistan and Indonesia currently need to be aware of the markets of both sides, for which there is a need for exchange of trade delegations of both the member countries throughout the year and there should be discussion in the current Indonesian visit to Pakistan.
He said that Indonesia can play a role of bridge for Pakistan in ASEAN countries and similarly Pakistan can play its full role in strengthening Indonesia’s ties with Central Asian countries and President Prabowo visit will be significant in this regard.
Meanwhile, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Sardar Tahir Khan said that Indonesia is a major trading partner of Pakistan with which Pakistan’s trade relations are of great importance.
President ICCI said that the Indonesian President visit to Pakistan at this time will give a new twist to the bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries and there is a need for mutual economic integration in the world’s two largest markets in terms of population.
Meanwhile President Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigol, hailed the Visit of Indonesian President to Pakistan and said both of the countries have decade long economic and trade ties.
President LCCI said that bilateral trade between Indonesia and Pakistan reached approximately $4.7 billion in 2024 and continued growing into 2025, with January-September 2025 totaling $2.92 billion, up from $2.69 billion the prior year.
President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muhammad Rehan Hanif felicitated the President of Indonesia visit to Pakistan and said that this high level visit will be the catalyst between the bilateral economic relations of the both countries.
He said that recently trade has shown steady expansion, rising from $3.36 billion in 2023 to $ 4.7 billion in 2024.
For 2025, Indonesia’s exports to Pakistan hit $2.16 billion from January to July, contributing to the overall bilateral momentum. Projections suggest further increases driven by diversification efforts, he said.
Chairman, Pakistan –Indonesia Business Council (PIBC), Haseeb Khan talking to APP, said that Indonesia and Pakistan have huge opportunities spanning textiles, halal products, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, IT, digital innovation, renewable energy, and EV batteries using Indonesia’s nickel reserves.
Both nations aim to leverage Indonesia as a gateway to ASEAN markets and enhance investments in services, construction, and CPEC zones, he said.
He said the trip of the Indonesian President aimed to strengthen economic, trade and strategic ties between Indonesia and Pakistan, including focus areas like trade, defense, infrastructure, energy investments, and people-to-people exchanges.
“The two sides will discuss a wide-ranging agenda aimed at further strengthening Pakistan-Indonesia relations and exploring new avenues of cooperation, including trade, investment, defence, health, IT, climate, education and culture, as well as enhancing collaboration at regional and global levels” he said.
It is pertinent to mention that Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has implemented reforms centered on economic growth, food and energy self-sufficiency, education, and industrialization since taking office in 2024.
Prabowo introduced eight policies in early 2025 to boost GDP, including free nutritious meals, THR social assistance, domestic retention of natural resource export proceeds, and launching Danantara as a national investment fund from state-owned enterprises. Additional measures cover housing subsidies via the FLPP program, MSME bad debt elimination, and international trade pushes like BRICS membership, OECD accession, and CEPA deals with Canada and the EU. A January 2025 budget efficiency sweep cut Rp 306.6 trillion in spending to fund social programs.
During his stay in Pakistan ,President Prabowo will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and meet President Asif Ali Zardar.