Japan and Indonesia Discuss Changes to IJEPA Protocol

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and Japan's Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Komura Masahiro discussed enhancing trade cooperation between the two countries including changes to the Indonesian-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA).

In Hasan's statement received on Sunday, May 19, 2024 he said that he and Masahiro discussed the trade cooperation between the countries bilaterally, regionally, and multilaterally.

Hasan said that Indonesia appreciated Japan's support for completing the change to the IJEPA Protocol negotiations. Indonesia also encouraged the completion of the legal scrubbing process and the preparation of the protocol original text both in Indonesian and Japan languages.

"The change to the IJEPA Protocol is targeted to be signed by President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before October 2024," Hasan said.

During the meeting, the two parties also discussed regional issues including the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the "mega" Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that has been in effect since January 2, 2023.

Indonesia encouraged Japan to start discussing the implementation of automotive industry cooperation project initiatives for electric cars that was ratified during the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in Tokyo last year.

In addition, Japan has provided support for the RCEP Secretariat to become fully operational this year.

"We also ask for Japan's support so that the RCEP accession procedure can be finalized as soon as possible," Hasan said.

Furthermore, Minister Hasan invited Japan to support the priorities of the Peruvian Chairmanship of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Indonesia said that Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies continue to support the multilateral trading system through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the development of regional economic integration through the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

Japan is Indonesia's third trading partner, both as an export and import destination country.

ANTARA

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