Indonesia, Japan OK free trade deal
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
INDONESIA and Japan have reached a deal on a free trade pact, which could be implemented early next year, Jakarta's trade minister said yesterday.
Mari Pangestu said that under the agreement, 90 per cent of all the tariffs that had been negotiated would be cut to zero including textiles and textile products, as well as shrimp.
She said coffee, an important export to Japan, was also included, but did not elaborate on the tariff level.
"The negotiation has been completed. The chief negotiators signed the EPA on Friday night," Pangestu said, referring to an Economic Partnership Agreement, which includes elements of free trade.
The trade minister said that both countries now needed to adjust their own legal system so that the pact could be signed by heads of state before the end of the year and then ratified. "If the whole process is completed this year, the EPA will be implemented early next year."
Satoru Satoh, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese embassy in Jakarta, said earlier this month that Tokyo hoped to sign the pact when Prim Minister Shinzo Abe visited Jakarta in August.
Japanese officials have said the EPA aims to end tariffs on about 93 per cent of the goods Japan imports from Indonesia, such as industrial products, fruit and shrimps, within seven years after it is signed,
Japan imported goods from Indonesia worth about ¥2.3 trillion ($29.21 billion) in 2005.
It is Indonesia's biggest customer for exports and ranks second among Indonesia's sources for imports, according to US Central Intelligence Agency data. Reuters
Mari Pangestu said that under the agreement, 90 per cent of all the tariffs that had been negotiated would be cut to zero including textiles and textile products, as well as shrimp.
She said coffee, an important export to Japan, was also included, but did not elaborate on the tariff level.
"The negotiation has been completed. The chief negotiators signed the EPA on Friday night," Pangestu said, referring to an Economic Partnership Agreement, which includes elements of free trade.
The trade minister said that both countries now needed to adjust their own legal system so that the pact could be signed by heads of state before the end of the year and then ratified. "If the whole process is completed this year, the EPA will be implemented early next year."
Satoru Satoh, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese embassy in Jakarta, said earlier this month that Tokyo hoped to sign the pact when Prim Minister Shinzo Abe visited Jakarta in August.
Japanese officials have said the EPA aims to end tariffs on about 93 per cent of the goods Japan imports from Indonesia, such as industrial products, fruit and shrimps, within seven years after it is signed,
Japan imported goods from Indonesia worth about ¥2.3 trillion ($29.21 billion) in 2005.
It is Indonesia's biggest customer for exports and ranks second among Indonesia's sources for imports, according to US Central Intelligence Agency data. Reuters
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