JAKARTA - Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri met with major Pakistani importers in Karachi on January 9 to discuss shipping routes for Indonesian palm oil through Port Qasim, Pakistan's primary entry point for edible oil.

Roro met with Abdul Rasheed Janmohammed, CEO of Westbury Group and Mapak Edible Oils, one of Pakistan's largest Indonesian palm oil importers. She called Pakistan a vital trading partner and said Indonesia is open to expanding commercial ties beyond palm oil.

Janmohammed said the supply chain needs strengthening through better logistics efficiency, simpler licensing procedures and more port storage facilities. Those improvements would make Indonesian palm oil deliveries faster and more competitive against other suppliers.

Roro proposed expanding into healthcare services after learning Westbury operates hospitals and childcare facilities near Port Qasim. She also suggested exporting Indonesian doctors, dentists and nurses to Pakistan.

The deputy minister held a second meeting that day with Atif Ikram, president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Mufti Hamka Hasan, chair of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce's Pakistan bilateral committee. They discussed implementing a cooperation agreement signed during President Prabowo Subianto's December 2025 visit to Pakistan.

The talks come as bilateral trade between the two countries reached $4.2 billion in 2024, with palm oil accounting for over 90 percent of that total. Pakistan ranks among the top three buyers of Indonesian palm oil alongside India and China, making it a strategic market for Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer.

Indonesia exported $8.9 billion worth of palm oil globally in the first five months of 2025, up 27.89 percent from the same period in 2024.