ZCZC
BCN-46
INDONESIA-KOREA-TRADE
Indonesia seeks multi-billion S. Korea trade deal by November
JAKARTA, Feb 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Indonesia aims to sign a long-stalled free
trade deal with South Korea by November in a move that could boost two-way
trade by billions of dollars, its trade ministry said Wednesday.
The deal would help to unlock vast natural resource exports including coal,
copper, tin, rubber and pulp exports from Indonesia to wealthy South Korea,
but negotiations have been on hold since 2014 due to technical disagreements.
Indonesia aims to finalise the agreement at the Korea-ASEAN summit in
November, trade ministry spokesman Fajarini Puntodewi told AFP on Wednesday.
Trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita and his South Korean counterpart Hyun
Chong Kim agreed to resume negotiations during bilateral talks in Jakarta on
Tuesday.
A joint statement said both sides would instruct officials to “commence
work immediately and make swift progress” on the deal.
The countries would target “reaching a conclusion as soon as possible by
the end of this year,” it said.
Bilateral trade was valued at $20 billion in 2018 but that figure could
increase to $30 billion by 2022, according to Indonesia’s trade ministry.
In addition to boosting Indonesian exports, a deal would allow greater
South Korean investment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Greater access to Indonesia’s more than 260 million people would benefit
South Korea’s chemical and construction sectors, and boost exports in online
education, medical devices and electric vehicles.
South Korean firms would have an easier time breaking into Indonesia’s
domestic market, which is currently dominated by Chinese and Japanese firms,
a South Korean trade official said.
The planned signing would be just a month before Indonesian presidential
elections in which incumbent Joko Widodo is pushing his economic record in
the battle for re-election.
BSS/AFP/HR1900 HRS