TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian and Australian governments expect to conclude the Indonesia - Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) this year. The Indonesian and Australian government resumed the negotiation process for the IA-CEPA on July 31-August 4 in Canberra, Australia.

In the eighth round of negotiation, Indonesian delegates were led by IA-CEPA Negotiation Team Chief Deddy Saleh and Australia was led by Trudy Witbreuk.

“Indonesia and Australia are committed to concluding the negotiation this year. In the meeting between President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Turnbull at the G20 Summit in Hamburg in early July, both reiterated that they expect negotiation for IA-CEPA be finalized at the end of 2017 in order to immediately implement the agreement,” Deddy said in a written statement received by Tempo today, August 3.

Deddy said that the negotiation teams of each country have been meeting on a two-monthly basis, from previously once in every four months.

The major issues in the IA-CEPA discussed in Canberra were goods trade, including provisions of origin of goods, customs procedure, trade facility, trade technical barriers, and sanitation; service trade, including financial services, free movement of people, and telecommunication; investment; electronic trade; and provisions of institutional framework.

The IA-CEPA negotiation round in Canberra also featured business luncheons attended by members of Indonesia-Australia Business Partnership Group (IA-BPG). The meetings were aimed at disseminating the latest development of IA-CEPA deal to the members and seeking suggestions from business players of the two countries.

ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI