To broaden their trade and investment cooperation within Asia while also demonstrating their intent to continue to play an important part in the rapidly changing Southeast Asian economy, Indonesia seeks to further improve its economic relationships with both Singapore and Malaysia.
During the 2023 ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat held in the Philippines and as part of this ongoing initiative, Singapore and Indonesia have engaged in several thousands of bilateral meetings where Indonesia has provided information about increasing trade activity with Singapore and the potential benefits to Indonesia’s export diversification and additional value-adding manufacturing opportunities through expanded bilateral partnership with Singapore.
Furthermore, through bilateral meetings, Indonesia has also expressed its continued commitment to strengthening bilateral investment and trade relationships with Malaysia, particularly in terms of the existing strength of Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral trade, which was approximately $24.22 billion annually in 2025, and developing additional bilateral trade and investment opportunities in such areas as manufacturing, product trans-shipping between the two countries, and infrastructure.
Regional integration is one of the key objectives of a number of regional collaborative programs that have been established, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the anticipated ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which will facilitate greater collaboration between ASEAN countries by streamlining trade processes, creating new opportunities for collaboration on the digital economy, and encouraging cross-border investment within the ASEAN member economies.
In order to create long-lasting partnerships with Singapore and Malaysia via ongoing collaborations, Indonesia seeks to improve its institutional arrangements through the establishment of joint trade committees and investment platforms. Improving the efficiency of cross-border trade—especially against Malaysia—will also improve the bilateral economic linkages between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Indonesia’s proactive policy of enhancing bilateral trade partnerships with its two neighbours is consistent with its objective to be a major economic power in southeastern Asia, in addition to its existing foreign investment and market access policies.