RI has made official request to join CPTPP: Airlangga
The Jakarta Post - 25 September 2024
RI has made official request to join CPTPP: Airlangga
By Divya Karyza
Indonesia has made an official request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday.
Incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered the ministers to immediately join the CPTPP, he said, adding that president-elect Prabowo Subianto shared the same objective.
“Yesterday, the [incumbent] president asked us to immediately join the CPTPP. So, yesterday I talked about the CPTPP to the president-elect, Pak Prabowo, and [he] asked [us] not to wait around,” he said in Jakarta on Monday, adding that an official request has been submitted to New Zealand as the pact’s depositary.
The CPTPP is a trade agreement between New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreement, which entered into force at the end of 2018, covered around 13.4 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, making it one of the largest free trade agreements (FTAs) in the world.
Indonesia has long been reluctant to join the club, once called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as the country has been focusing on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Billed as the world’s largest free trade bloc, the RCEP was formed existence in January last year.
In May, the government said it would apply to join the pact this year.
The CPTPP requires countries to eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs, make strong commitments to opening services and investment markets and has rules around competition, intellectual property rights and protections for foreign companies.
Airlangga stressed that Indonesia “did not wish to lag behind” and the government sought to close the gap with its neighboring countries that are already part of the pact.
“Because [joining the FTA] will open up the British, Canadian, Mexican, Chilean and Peruvian markets,” he explained.
He also conveyed hope that negotiations to join the CPTPP “would not be complicated”.
Bernardino Moningka Vega, the international relations deputy of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), said on Tuesday that joining the CPTPP would be beneficial for the country’s business landscape.
“The CPTPP is comprehensive, progressive and consistent in terms of baseline regulatory framework, that’s why Kadin strongly supports [Indonesia’s] decision to join the CPTPP,” he said in an interview broadcast on CNBC Indonesia.
He expected the agreement to provide an excellent opportunity for Indonesia to explore partnerships with countries it has not yet signed an FTA with, such as Chile, Mexico and Peru.
“These are the markets that we must pay attention to, especially as export destinations for downstream manufacturing products, like electric vehicles,” he said.
This May, the United Kingdom conveyed its support for Indonesia to join the pact and it would help the archipelago during the ascension process.
