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AKARTA: Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi began a trade mission to Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, as part of Indonesia’s moves to diversify its export destinations to Middle East countries .

During the mission, Jordanian businesspeople as well as its government expressed interest in setting up a distribution center for Indonesian goods in Aqaba, one of the major ports in the Middle East, a region with a population of 100 million, Bayu said, adding that the center would smooth the flow of exports to Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as to Jordan.

The delegation also reported that there had been growing interest from Jordan for Indonesian goods, including processed food, knocked-down furniture, Muslim apparel, automotive spare parts and cosmetics.

Bilateral trade between the two countries was valued at US$403 million last year, and from January to August this year, it stood at $364 million, with a deficit of $100 million posted by Indonesia due to high imports of phosphate, a material used to make fertilizer.