Indonesia, EU Enter New Round of CEPA Negotiations: Official

TheIndonesia.co - Indonesia and the European Union have reportedly entered a new phase in the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) talks after the last meeting of representatives was held in November 2021.

Director of Bilateral Trade Cooperation at the Ministry of Trade Johni Martha said Indonesia and the EU agreed to accelerate negotiations on Indonesia-EU CEPA (IEU-CEPA) upon a successful substantial completion of financial services arrangements under trade in services framework.

“The 12th round of negotiations is the first full round after the last meeting in November 2021. However, the Indonesian and EU delegations are committed to accelerating the negotiations in accordance to the instructions from presidents of the two countries,” Martha said on Tuesday, December 20, as reported by Antara.

According to him, the latest round saw delegations discussing 15 issues, which were trade in goods; terms of origin of goods; trade security instruments; trade technical barriers; excise and trade facilitation; and trade in services; and investment.

It also discussed investment dispute resolution; government procurement; sustainable trade and development; transparency and good regulatory practice; mutual administrative assistance; dispute resolution; institutional provisions; as well as economic cooperation and capacity building.

As reported, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and EU’s Ursula von Der Leyen had previously expressed hopes for progress to be made in the IEU-CEPA talks when they met on the sidelines of G20 summit in Bali last month.

As leader of Indonesia’s Negotiating Group, Martha led the 12th round of negotiations, along with Filip Deraedt from the European Commission.

Martha also revealed that Indonesia and the EU target to hold up to four rounds of negotiations next year and expect to achieve further progress and substantial agreement.

The 13th round is planned to take place in early February 2023 in Indonesia.

In total, trade between Indonesia and the EU in 2021 was reported at US$29.1 billion. During the same period, Indonesia's exports to the EU were recorded at US$18 billion while Indonesia's imports from the EU were at US$11.1 billion.