Indonesia optimistic IEAEU-FTA negotiations can be completed in 2024
Antara News - 16 December 2023
Indonesia optimistic IEAEU-FTA negotiations can be completed in 2024
Indonesia is optimistic that negotiations of the Indonesia-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (IEAEU-FTA) can be completed in 2024 following the agreement on the Intellectual Property (IP) chapter.
"The flexibility shown by both negotiating teams allowed text negotiations to move quickly. This achievement is the result of cooperation and commitment from the two," the Trade Ministry’s Director of Bilateral Negotiations, Johni Martha, remarked here on Saturday.
At the third round of negotiations of IEAEU-FTA, Martha led the Indonesian delegation, while the EAEU side was led by Anton Tsetsinovskiy, Head of Division for Special Issues in Trade Regulation.
In the third round of negotiations, the two discussed 11 issues, namely trade of goods, e-commerce, provisions of origin of goods, legal and institutional issues, IP, trade security, cooperation, dispute resolution, sanitation and phytosanitation (SPS), trade barriers, and business competition.
With the agreement on the IP chapter, Indonesia and the EAEU have, so far, agreed on two chapters in the trade agreement.
Positive progress was also made in the discussion on trade in goods, e-commerce, provisions of origin of goods, as well as legal and institutional issues.
"With the current pace of negotiations, Indonesia is moving closer to expanding market access and building closer cooperation with the EAEU," Martha stated.
EAEU is an economic bloc that is a potential non-traditional market for Indonesia. The EAEU can also serve as a main entry point for exports to Central Asian and Eastern European countries. The EAEU consists of Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
According to the Trade Ministry’s data, the total trade between Indonesia and the EAEU reached US$4.35 billion, an increase of 30.66 percent as compared to US$3.33 billion recorded in 2021.
