TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia and the European Union (EU) successfully completed the 14th round of the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) negotiation in Brussels, Belgium, from May 8–12, 2023.

According to a statement received on Saturday, the two parties managed to achieve significant progress on the development of the agreement in the negotiation round.

"With this progress, we are optimistic that we can achieve the determined targets (in this negotiation process),” Director of Bilateral Negotiations at the Indonesian Trade Ministry Johni Martha said.

The negotiation team will continue to pay attention to Indonesia’s national interests, while considering the fair benefits that could be obtained by both parties, he added.

“Furthermore, all working groups will also continue to increase coordination and ready the attempts needed to resolve any tough issues," he said.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President of the European Commission, Ursula von Der Leyen, expressed the hope that the IEU-CEPA negotiations would be substantially completed by the end of 2023.

"Both parties are committed to maintaining the positive (negotiation) momentum achieved in the previous round," Martha added.

According to the Trade Ministry’s website, the 13th round of the IEU-CEPA negotiation was held in Bali from February 6–11, 2023.

In the 13th round, both parties managed to complete discussions regarding the Chapter on Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) as well as the part concerning geographical indication (GI) in the Chapter on Intellectual Property (IP) Rights.

Meanwhile, 18 primary issues were negotiated in the 14th round, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, trade security, investment, government procurement, transparency and regulatory practice, dispute resolution, institutional provisions, as well as intellectual property rights.

The issues further covered state-owned enterprises, economic cooperation and capacity building, investment court system, subsidies, anti-fraud policies, energy and raw materials, small and medium enterprises, as well as trade technical barriers.

In addition, the negotiations over several chapters were completed in the round, such as the chapters regarding small and medium enterprises (SMEs), trade remedies (TR), as well as transparency.

The 15th round of the IEU-CEPA negotiations is scheduled to be held in July 2023 in Indonesia.

The total trade between Indonesia and the EU was recorded at US$33.2 billion (Rp491.2 trillion) in 2022.

During the period, Indonesia’s exports to the EU reached US$21.5 billion (Rp318.1 trillion), while Indonesia's imports from the EU stood at US$11.7 billion (Rp173.1 trillion).

The country’s main export commodities to the EU were palm oil and its fractions, industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids, coal, copper, and footwear whose upper parts were made of leather.

Meanwhile, its main import commodities from the EU included iron and steel pipes, medicines, vaccines, pulp-making machines, and recycled paper or cardboard.

ANTARA

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