The highly anticipated G20 summit held in Japan last week was a success. All eyes were on U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping who agreed to restart trade talks.
Also, during the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko Widodo had a meaningful meeting about the completion of General Review Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (GR-IJEPA). The new Indonesia-Japan deal is expected to be signed late this year.
IJEPA had come into effect on July 1, 2008, the first bilateral free-trade agreement of Indonesia. The agreement aims to improve the cross-border flow of goods and people as well as investment between Japan and Indonesia.
Both leaders committed to speed up the negotiations. This serves as a symbol for the importance of trade relations between the two countries, according to Indonesian Trade Minister Engrartiasto Lukita.
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Jokowi and Abe also talked about the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The two leaders are pushing for its completion this year. The RCEP involves 16 countries, with 10 coming from the Southeast Asian region: Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, and Cambodia. The other 6 countries are China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand. It covers 38 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 25 percent of global trade.
Discussions had developed quite well for the Indonesia-Japan deal with two countries exchanging revised requests. Late June, the two countries had a meeting and announced recommendations toward the completion of GR-IJEPA negotiations. Minister Engrartiasto said the negotiations cover many issues including trade, employment, investments, a country’s goods, intellectual property rights and, climate change.
“Apart from opening more access for trade in goods and services, the IJEPA will also open the way for cooperation in the manufacturing industry sector,” he added.
Also read: Malaysian PM Mahathir Says RCEP Deal Can Go on Without India