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ndonesia’s trade with two of the world’s biggest economies declined in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Negative quarterly growth in Indonesian exports to the US and South Korea meant those nations had joined the European Union on the list of Indonesia’s ailing trading partners.

Non-oil-and-gas exports to the US were US$3.68 billion in the first three months of this year, down by 6.17 percent, while similar exports to South Korea were $1.78 billion, down 9.19 percent.

Indonesia’s exports to the European Union extended their negative growth trend, ending the first quarter at $4.6 billion, down 7.46 percent from $4.97 billion in the same period last year.

Exports to the EU have been declining since the fourth quarter of 2011.

Latief Adam of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that Indonesia’s exports to key markets apart from China were likely to extend their decline, in line with the uncertain economic recovery in advanced economies.

“If the government wants to achieve its $230 billion target, it must work seriously to diversify its market destinations and products,” Latief said.

Despite weaker exports to the EU, South Korea and the US, total Indonesian exports in the first quarter rose 6.93 percent to $48.53 billion on strong demand from emerging economies and rising commodity prices.

The nation’s non-oil-and-gas exports in the first quarter topped $38.53 billion, up 3.87 percent from the same period last year, while oil and gas exports were recorded at $10 billion, up 20.64 percent.

China, Japan and the United States remained Indonesia’s three largest export destinations for non-oil-and-gas products.

China accounted for $4.99 billion, or a 12.95 percent share, of Indonesia’s non-oil-and-gas exports, while Japan accounted for $4.52 billion and a 11.74 percent share and the US for $3.68 billion and a 9.55 percent share.

Meanwhile, the nation’s imports increased by 18.18 percent to $45.85 billion, with China as the biggest source of non-oil-and-gas imports at $6.64 billion, representing 18.75 percent of overall non-oil-and-gas imports.

Despite imports growing faster than exports, Indonesia still booked a surplus trade balance of $2.68 billion.

However, the trade surplus was markedly down from the same period last year, dropping 62 percent from $7.05 billion.

“We are still recording a surplus despite the slowdown. This is a positive sign, but the government must work hard to maintain this,” BPS chief Suryamin said during the announcement on Tuesday.

The government set a $230 billion target for the nation’s exports this year, up 12.96 percent from last year, which it said would be achieved through a market diversification push.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has estimated that the overall volume of world trade would only rise by 3.8 percent this year.

Exports of advanced economies would expand by 2.4 percent, less than the 6.1 percent rate it has forecast for developing countries.