Jakarta. India and Indonesia have agreed to address technical trade barriers, according to Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

Airlangga recently met with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the India-Indonesia CEOs forum in New Delhi. The forum was part of President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to India as the chief guest on New Delhi’s Republic Day.

According to a press release, Airlangga and Goyal discussed bolstering bilateral trade ties, including addressing various trade barriers, be it licenses, quotas, non-tariff measures, and customs procedures, among others. Government data shows India-Indonesia trade totaled $27 billion and saw a 20.54 percent growth between 2019 and 2023. The talks also touched on issues related to Indonesian palm oil and coal exports to India. The ministers also discussed the safeguard or quantitative restrictions on Indonesian low ash metallurgical coke.

“We have agreed with India to assign a technical team to address all [trade] issues on the technical level, and hold another bilateral meeting in mid-February in New Delhi,” Airlangga was quoted as saying in a press statement.

“Hopefully, this concrete step can bolster Indonesian export [to India] and beef up bilateral trade,” Airlangga said.

The ministers also discussed strengthening trade ties through various international mechanisms, be it the G20, ASEAN-India, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).