Govt Prepares 3 Cooperation Schemes with China
6 April 2015 13:50 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The governments of Indonesia and the People's Republic of China are preparing three cooperation schemes to even out trade balance between the two countries.
According to Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel, the three schemes are reducing tariff and eliminating non-tariff barriers for Indonesia's main products, reinforcing of mutual recognition agreement (MRA), and facilitating the use of the local currencies of each country.
During President Joko Widodo's visit to China from March 25 to 28, China's President Xi Jinping expressed his consent to perform the steps of balancing trade between the two nations.
According to Rachmat, the Chinese government will help improve the trade balance by opening a wider market access and help promote Indonesian export products.
To date, Indonesia still posted a trade deficit with China. The Trade Ministry's data shows that as of last year Indonesia's trade deficit with China reached US$13.01 billion, up 79.5 percent compared to 2013's US$7.3 billion.
URSULA FLORENE