Businesspeople from the European Union (EU) and Indonesia are pressing their governments to begin talks on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) that will help enhance trade between the EU and Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy.

They conveyed their demands on Tuesday during the fourth EU-Indonesia Business Dialogue Conference, a forum for businesspeople from both parties.

This year, the forum brought together businesspeople from five sectors: automotive, garments and textiles, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, as well as food and beverages.

According to the study, CEPA would cover improvements in market access, capacity building and the facilitation of trade and investment.

The EU and Indonesia began talks on preparation for CEPA in early 2012.

Asa Larsson, a senior director with Germany-based logistics firm Deutsche Post DHL, said she had waited impatiently for CEPA negotiations, as an agreement would improve supply chain connectivity between the two parties.

'€œI think business is no longer about competing in a cheap labor, low-cost environment. Now it'€™s really about connectivity - how fast and efficient you are in delivering your products to the end market,'€ she said.

Indonesia-based PT Great Giant Pineapple chief executive officer Harold Koh said a CEPA would ease Indonesia'€™s market access to the EU, making products from the country more competitive in Europe.

'€œI have a pineapple business. If I export pineapples to EU countries, my products won'€™t be able to compete with those from countries that have signed a CEPA with the EU, because they enjoy greater market access,'€ he said.

EU Ambassador-designate to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and ASEAN Olof Skoog said the CEPA was important because it would improve trade relations and market access for Indonesia and the EU, while adding an additional ¤9.2 billion (US$12.6 billion) to Indonesia'€™s annual export value.

'€œIt will also add an extra 1.3 percent growth to Indonesia'€™s GDP [gross domestic product], more investment, as well as more jobs with higher wages,'€ he said.

Olof added Indonesia and the EU had robust commercial relations, with bilateral trade accounting for approximately ¤25 billion in 2012.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) deputy head Achmad Kurniadi said according to his institution'€™s data, the EU still eyed Indonesia as one of its main investment targets among Southeast Asian countries.

'€œFrom 2010 to the second quarter of 2013, the EU'€™s investment contributed about 10 percent of Indonesia'€™s total foreign direct investment [FDI], amounting to $7.1 billion in total,'€ he said.

He also said from 2010 to 2012, the EU'€™s investment in Indonesia had increased year-on-year, from $1.16 billion in 2010 to $2.15 billion in 2011 to $2.30 billion in 2012.

European Business Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) Indonesia chairman Jakob Friis Sorensen said Indonesia had to deal with certain issues to reap maximum benefit from the CEPA.

'€œIndonesia has to think about how to solve environmental sustainability issues related to its crude palm oil in order to help it enter the EU market,'€ he said.

He added Indonesia needed to improve its bureaucratic efficiency and its legal certainty, especially in terms of intellectual property rights.

He said he hoped Indonesia would start negotiating the CEPA by the end of the year before the 2014 general elections. '€œI'€™m afraid everyone will be very busy during the elections and will have no time to talk about this,'€ he said. (ogi)

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