Indonesia, US firms sign $38.4b in trade, investment deals

WASHINGTON/JAKARTA, Feb 19 (Reuters): Indonesian and US companies on Wednesday signed deals worth $38.4 billion ahead of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's meeting with US President Donald Trump to sign a final trade pact, the Indonesian government said in a statement.

The 11 deals, signed at a dinner for Prabowo hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, were for partnerships in mining, energy, agribusiness, textiles, furniture and technology sectors, according to the statement.

"We hope to find partners who are ready to join us in our ongoing efforts to modernize and industrialize," Prabowo said in his speech at the dinner.

Prabowo said the deals were among the implementing agreements to the US-Indonesian trade deal that he is due to sign on Thursday with Trump, adding it would help reduce Indonesia's trade surplus with the US "I'm very optimistic about the future of our relationship," he said.

The $38.4 billion valuation was higher than the figure presented earlier in a fact sheet by US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) at over $7 billion, which included purchases by Indonesian firms of 1 million metric tons of US soybeans, 1.6 million tons of corn, and 93,000 tons of cotton over unspecified periods.

The council said Indonesia would also buy 1 million tons of wheat this year and up to 5 million tons by 2030.

The deals include a memorandum of understanding between US mining group Freeport-McMoRan and the Indonesian Ministry of Investment for critical minerals cooperation, and an agreement between state oil producer Pertamina and Halliburton Co to cooperate on oilfield recovery, USABC said.