According to the President, the world economy has not entirely recovered and continues to develop moderately at a rate of 2.6 to 27 percent. Inflation also continues to afflict many countries at a global estimate of 5.9 percent, while conventional and trade conflicts continue, forcing governments to implement trade restrictions.

The President symbolically opened the 39th TEI by playing the angklung, a Sundanese bamboo percussion instrument, along with Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Investment Roslan Roeslani and Acting Banten Governor Al Muktabar.

“And we as a country with large resources, with the fourth-largest population in the world, 280 million people, must be able to market our products so that we dominate the domestic market and also continue to expand widely in foreign markets,” the President said.

He also expressed his belief that opportunities abound in the midst of challenging global economic conditions.

“When many countries impose restrictions due to trade wars, in my opinion, there are opportunities. When many countries experience high inflation, in my opinion, there are also opportunities. Therefore, I welcome the 39th Trade Expo Indonesia as the largest export products exhibition in Indonesia, which is carried out offline and [online] to market our superior products to the global market,” he said.

The opening ceremony of the 39th TEI was also more memorable compared to previous edition because it was attended by those ministers who had served under Jokowi’s two-term presidency, including former trade ministers Rachmat Gobel and Agus Suparmanto.

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