Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi encourages business players and exporters to maximize the utilization of the implementation of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA).
In an official statement from the Ministry of Trade received in Jakarta, Monday, it was stated that if used properly, the IA-CEPA could encourage trade between the two countries while increasing Indonesia’s exports to the Kangaroo Country.
As of March 2022, the total trade value between Indonesia and Australia was recorded at US$ 2.79 billion, down 2.31 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Meanwhile, in 2021, trade between the two countries will be recorded at 12.6 billion US dollars, up 76.84 percent compared to 2020 of 7.15 billion US dollars.
Indonesia’s main non-oil and gas exports to Australia include electronic parts, tropical wood, fertilizers, steel and gold.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s imports from Australia include iron ore and concentrates, bituminous coal, wheat and meslin, iron ore, and sugar.
The implementation of the IA-CEPA was one of the issues raised at the bilateral meeting between President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Monday.
Minister of Trade Lutfi reiterated President Joko Widodo’s statement that the utilization of the IA-CEPA can be optimized, so that the expansion of market access, improvement of standardization and the ecosystem of superior industrial sectors, as well as improvement of skills and training for strategic sectors, can be carried out properly.
At the meeting, continued Trade Minister Lutfi, President Jokowi hopes that Australia can pay special attention to opening access to superior and value-added products, such as automotive.
Previously, President Jokowi had also released the first export of Indonesian-made vehicles to Australia last February. According to President Jokowi, this achievement has increasingly given confidence in the quality of Indonesian products and opened up access for other Indonesian products. (ojn/bbs)
Comment