Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia recorded a deficit of 2.81 billionUSD in trade of agricultural products in January-August this year, with exportsvalued at 2.4 billion USD and imports touching 5.21 billion USD, according to the country’s Ministry of Trade.

The ministry’s director general of national export development, KasanMuhri, said that many of Indonesia's agricultural products are absorbed bylarge countries, one of which is China. However, the export potential of anumber of commodities, including fruits such as dragon fruit, swallow's nest,bananas, could be exploited further, he pointed out.

Apart from being the largest export destination country, China is also thecountry of origin for Indonesia’s biggest imports, he noted.

During the period, the largest shipments of Indonesian agriculturalproducts, valued at 471 million USD, were sent to China, followed by the UnitedStates, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong (China), and Singapore, the ministry noted.

China was also Indonesia's largest agricultural importer, with a share of19.6 percent.

Agriculture is one of the sectors that have shown positive growth duringthe COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the ministry’s records, the exports of a number ofagricultural commodities rose sharply in January-August – vegetable exportswere up 68.69 percent; coconut 189.19 percent; guava, mango, and mangosteen134.49 percent; and, nutmeg 32.17 percent.

Indonesia’s foreign trade in the first three quarters of this year totalled220.9 billion USD, down 12.04 percent year-on-year. The country posted a tradesurplus of over 13.5 percent, with exports valuing 117.2 billion USD, down 5.81percent, while imports plunging 18.15 percent to 103.7 billion USD./.