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Brexit won't affect Indonesian-British relations: Minister
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi speaks to journalists at the Foreign Ministry building in Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/-)
B
ritain’s exit from the EU will not affect bilateral relations with Indonesia, as it is in the common interest of both countries to continue to foster cooperation in strategic areas, a minister has said.
Any political and economic impact would only begin to show after approximately two years since an extensive process still had to finalize Britian’s withdrawal from the trading bloc, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in response to the UK's historic referendum on June 24.
"The results from the referendum would not take effect immediately because article 50 of the EU Treaty must be initiated before negotiations between Britain and the EU would take place to settle on a withdrawal agreement," Retno said in a statement released on Friday.
She said the economic impact would have to be observed from the results of the aforementioned withdrawal agreement, as it would determine the direction of relations between the UK and the EU, since a number of partnerships between both parties also involve Indonesia, such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licensing initiative.
Britain has been a strategic partner to Indonesia since 2012, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry. Trade value between both countries reached US$ 2.35 billion in 2015, while investment from Britain in Indonesia reached $503.2 million in the same year. According to ministry data, as many as 269,798 tourists from Britain visited Indonesia in 2015. (bbn)
