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View all search resultsJokowi should listen to Susi's proposal to quit G20: Analyst
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo must take into serious account a recent suggestion by Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti that Indonesia should reconsider its membership of the G20, says an analyst
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resident Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo must take into serious account a recent suggestion by Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti that Indonesia should reconsider its membership of the G20, says an analyst.
'With the new interpretation of our free-and-active foreign policy, where all nations can be considered friends only until Indonesia's sovereignty is degraded or national interest is jeopardized, Jokowi must make a clear decision to withdraw from the G20 if Indonesia's interests have really been sacrificed,' the University of Indonesia's international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana said on Thursday.
Jokowi and his entourage are now in Myanmar to attend the ASEAN Summit and other related meetings. He is scheduled to leave the country's capital of Nay Pyi Taw for Brisbane, Australia, to attend the G20 Summit.
'Jokowi can ask his men or form a team to study the benefit of Indonesia's membership of the G20. If Susi's suggestions are proven to be correct, Jokowi should cancel his attendance in Brisbane and ask Vice President Jusuf Kalla to go instead,' Hikmahanto said.
'Alternatively, Jokowi can go on with the plan to attend the summit, particularly given Australia's preparations to welcome him, and conduct a thorough evaluation of Indonesia's membership in the grouping, whether it has really been beneficial to the Indonesian people or not,' he added.
According to him, Jokowi should also assess whether Indonesia could have a leading role in representing the world's developing nations in the G20 and push the grouping to accommodate those countries' interests.
If Indonesia did not have significant influence on the G20's decisions, he added, Indonesia should quit the G20.
During a discussion with fishery entrepreneurs in her office on Tuesday, Susi said she had sent a letter to Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto and President Jokowi about her proposal.
Susi said Indonesia should end its membership of the G20, which had caused the country to sustain frequent losses, especially in the fisheries sector. Susi said fishery exports had a 14 percent tariff imposed due to the membership.
'Indonesia does not receive a zero-percent facility because of the G20,' said Susi, as quoted by Tempo.
Susi cited Indonesia's tuna exports, which presently stood at US$700 million but which lost $105 million due to the import tariff. She said a similar situation also happened with shrimp commodities, with losses amounting to $150 million from its total exports of $1.5 billion.
Therefore, Susi said Indonesia would be better off without the G20. 'I will raise it with the President in the Cabinet later,' she said.
