23-6-2023 (JAKARTA) Indonesia’s Trade Ministry is actively seeking opportunities for trade cooperation with various countries and regions in order to expand the export market for domestic products, according to Djatmiko Bris Witjaksonon, the ministry’s Director General of International Trade Negotiations.
As of now, the ministry has undertaken 14 exploration efforts targeting multiple countries and regions, as revealed on Thursday.
Among the countries and regions being considered are the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), consisting of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa.
Additionally, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is on the list, which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The East African Community (EAC), consisting of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, is also part of the exploration efforts.
Furthermore, trade cooperation possibilities are being explored with Djibouti, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Ukraine, India, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The GCC includes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.
These countries and regions have been selected for exploration because they hold significant potential for improving the performance of Indonesian exports in the future.
“There is immense potential. Our products have garnered a great deal of interest,” stated Djatmiko Bris Witjaksonon.
Completing trade cooperation agreements with these countries and regions will undoubtedly be a time-consuming process. However, the hope is that certain forms of cooperation can be agreed upon within the next five to ten years.
This cooperation will encompass a variety of trade cooperation concepts, such as free trade agreements (FTA), preferential trade agreements (PTA), and comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPA).
In addition to the ongoing exploration efforts, the Indonesian government is currently engaged in trade cooperation negotiations with 11 other countries and regions. These include Bangladesh, Japan, and the European Union (EU).
The list also comprises Canada, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan (Trade in Goods Agreement (TIGA), and Mercosur, which consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
