Participants at the signing ceremony of a joint statement on the completion of the IE-CEPA (Source: efta.int)Jakarta (VNA) – A joint statement was signed on November 25 on the completion ofnegotiations for an Indonesia-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Comprehensive Economic PartnershipAgreement (IE-CEPA).
The statement wasinked by Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita and ministers fromfour EFTAmembers – Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland - in Geneva,Switzerland.
Accordingto Minister Enggartiasto, negotiations for theIE-CEPA came to an end after lasting for seven years, marking a new milestonein partnership between the Southeast Asian country and the four EFTA members.
AsIndonesia and the four EFTA members committed to finalise negotiations thisyear, they worked hard together to deal with remaining issues and completed therounds on November 1.
Withthe IE-CEPA, Indonesia will get better access to exporting products such ascoffee, palm oil, fisheries, textile and furniture, the statement said.
Members of the EFTA will gain access toinvestment in Indonesia, including in the energy and mining sectors.
The next step is for “legal scrubbing” andtranslation so the agreement is ready to be signed in Jakarta in December, thestatement said.
In 2017, Indonesia-EFTA trade was worth 2.4billion USD, with Indonesia having a surplus of 212 million USD.
Minister Enggartiasto said that EFTAmembers are markets that Indonesia has yet to fully explore. With the signingof the deal, Indonesia hopes to optimise its market share in the economies andturn them into a gateway to enter the European market, he added.-VNA
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