TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Policy Forum (TRAP Forum) chairman Hartanto Reksodipoetro said on Wednesday, November 25, 2015, that Indonesia would face difficult challenges to compete in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), if the country only relied on the commodity sector.
Hartanto admitted that Indonesia was at the top of commodity exporters in ASEAN with 79.6 percent market share.
"Meanwhile other countries, such as Thailand has 18.5 percent, Malaysia has 30.2 percent, Philippine has 14.5 percent, and Vietnam has 16.7 percent," Hartanto said.
However, Hartanto pointed out that Indonesia's exports of manufacturing products was relatively low with 8.6 percent compared with other ASEAN countries. In addition, Indonesia's service sector stood at 11.8 percent below Thailand, Malaysia, and Philippine.
Therefore, Hartanto suggested that Indonesia would need to learn more about the TPP agreement. Hartanto said added that competing in the TPP would need preparations related to regulation policies, as well as sector readiness to be offered in the TPP.
Earlier, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo indicated his plan to Join the TPP after meeting US President Barrack Obama at the White House on October 26, 2016.
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