Indonesia and Thailand Target $30 Billion Trade Deal to Drive ASEAN Food and Carbon Markets

Target $30 Billion Trade Corridor by 2030

The forum, organized by Kadin Indonesia alongside the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand, coincided with the official visit of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to Jakarta—the first state visit by a sitting Thai prime minister in 15 years.

Bilateral trade between the two nations reached $17.5 billion in 2025, accompanied by over $500 million in cross-border foreign direct investment. However, corporate leaders and government officials are locking in an ambitious target to expand that figure by 70% to $30 billion by 2030.

"We do not merely want to be competitive or successful; Indonesia and Thailand must become world-class players," Anindya said during his opening address on Tuesday. "History connects us, business must strengthen those bonds, and innovation will define our shared future."

To accelerate that roadmap, Kadin Indonesia and the Board of Trade of Thailand executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen institutional trade links. A separate agreement was signed to develop a joint carbon market framework aimed at mobilizing capital into low-emission industrial projects across Southeast Asia.

Anindya emphasized that carbon markets are becoming vital asset classes as global data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and manufacturing centers demand credible carbon offsets.

"Companies worldwide require transparent mechanisms to offset their carbon footprints," Anindya noted on Tuesday. "Carbon trading represents one of the largest future investment opportunities for our region."

Agricultural Synergy and Global Food Security

While carbon markets and digital connectivity remain top priorities, business leaders identified food security as the single most powerful sector where the two nations can achieve global dominance.

Thailand stands as a premier global agricultural power, renowned for its technical efficiency, logistics, and processing capacity across commodities like jasmine rice and tropical produce. Conversely, Indonesia offers massive scale, biodiversity, and an expansive domestic consumer base.

"Thailand possesses global experience, innovation, and leadership in agriculture, while Indonesia brings natural wealth, biodiversity, and immense scale," Anindya explained. "If we combine these complementary strengths, we can create food security solutions that benefit not just ASEAN, but the entire world."

Indonesia Positions Neutrality as an Investor Safe Haven

Highlighting Indonesia's macroeconomic landscape, Hashim S. Djojohadikusumo, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and Energy and Chairman of Kadin Indonesia's Advisory Council, reassured international investors that Indonesia remains one of the safest destinations for foreign direct investment amid deepening geopolitical fragmentation.

Speaking at the forum on Tuesday, Hashim emphasized that under President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia maintains a non-aligned, active foreign policy that welcomes capital from all global markets without picking sides.

"Indonesia receives investment from all over the world—the United States, China, Japan, Europe, Australia, and Russia," Hashim told attendees. "Investment in Indonesia is safe, and the government will always honor its commitments to all investors."

Citing President Prabowo’s diplomatic stance that "a thousand friends are too few, one enemy is one too many," Hashim noted that economic resilience requires building strong regional alliances to weather external disruptions, such as shipping bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz or volatile global energy prices.

Hashim also invited Thai conglomerates to participate directly in Indonesia’s national carbon market, which launched on July 9, 2026. He noted that the platform allows multinational corporations to purchase carbon credits while funding renewable energy projects across the archipelago ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31).

"Companies seeking to offset emissions can now utilize Indonesia’s carbon market," Hashim stated on Tuesday. "This opens up immediate avenues for Thai firms to invest while advancing global decarbonization."

Moving From Good Neighbors to Great Partners

Echoing the call for deeper industrial integration, James Riady, Vice Chairman of Foreign Affairs at Kadin Indonesia, urged Thai corporate executives to establish localized manufacturing plants inside Indonesia rather than treating the country solely as an export destination.

Reflecting on the state dinner held at Istana Merdeka the previous evening between President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, James noted that strong personal rapport between regional leaders provides a solid foundation for cross-border capital investment.

"In Asia, personal relationships precede business transactions, and trust is built before capital is committed," James said during a panel address on Tuesday. "When leaders trust one another, it becomes far easier for the private sector to build lasting ventures."

James urged Thai enterprises to replicate the long-term localization strategies deployed by Japanese corporations over the past five decades, leveraging Indonesia's population of 285 million as a production launchpad.

"I invite our friends from Thailand not simply to export products to Indonesia," James said on Tuesday. "Come build industries with us, manufacture with us, innovate with us, and invest with us. Indonesia is evolving from a consumer marketplace into a regional engine for production, innovation, and corporate expansion."

James also commended regional financial institutions, including Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank Indonesia, for funding cross-border infrastructure and trade finance over four decades, noting that family-to-family corporate partnerships remain the backbone of Southeast Asian commerce.

As global supply chains realign, both nations are positioning their deepened partnership as the anchor for ASEAN's broader economic resilience in the 21st century.