Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita announced that the government wants to barter several commodities for Russian-made Sukhoi SU-35 jet fighters.
The govt is eyeing 11 units of the jet fighter worth USD 570 million by offering Indonesian agricultural commodities, one of them is kerupuk deep-fried crackers made from starch and other ingredients.
"We would like to have an increase in values. Kerupuk you know, now is popular in Nigeria, like all kinds of Biscuit from Mayora, Wings (Indonesian consumer products company). Their export value to Africa is so high," said Enggartiasto at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday.
The trade plan was made after a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Indonesian state-owned trading company PT Perusahaan Perdagangan and Russian state corporation Rostec.
Enggar mentioned another possible commodities to be involved, "Furniture, coffee, sugar, we're still working on the list. We'll immediately give it to them, and we give them the opportunity to discuss internally," revealed Enggar.
Furthermore, the govt also included Indonesia's military weaponry products from state-owned land systems and weapon maker PT Pindad in the exchange.
"We'll show them the work of PT Pindad. Here are PT Dirgantara Indonesia's product. We make the list, we let them choose. Then we negotiate," said Enggar.