The Nigerian-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to boost investment and trade activities between the two countries as it plans a trade and investment forum to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

President of the Chamber, Ishmael Balogun, said the trade and investment forum scheduled to be held in October is expected to attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria.

He disclosed that based on this, the chamber has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

“As of 2021, emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses suffered losses across the world and global trade declined aggressively. In that year, trade balances between Indonesia and Nigeria accounted for about $2.6 billion.

“In the same year, non-oil exports from Nigeria to Indonesia in agricultural commodities increased by 20 per cent and there’s more to explore, and the value of the trade expo that the chamber held in 2021 was about $6.6bn,” he said.

The Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, Usman Ogah, stated that Nigeria and Indonesia have similarities in terms of natural resources while he emphasised the need for both countries to deepen their trade relationship to develop their natural resources.

The Director of Trade Promotion Centre, Hendro Jonathan Manurund, said Indonesia has maintained a 4 per cent growth in the past five years in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the Indonesian economy is resilient and that Indonesia is ready to do business with Nigeria.