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Indonesia, Malaysia to renew border trade agreement
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Trade Minister Thomas Lembong leaves the room after giving a briefing to the media about the country's export and import performance on Jan. 18. (ANTARA FOTO/Puspa Perwitasari)
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ndonesia and Malaysia have held the second Indonesia-Malaysia Joint Trade and Investment (JICT) meeting after an 8-year hiatus. At the meeting, both governments agreed to renew their border trade agreement (BTA) in Kalimantan that is targeted for completion by August before an Indonesian and Malaysian leaders' meeting.
Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said the border trade agreement in Nunukan and Entikong, both in Kalimantan, had been established since 1970. Both governments intended to update the agreement to better suit recent developments.
"We target to submit the renewal of the 30-year-old border trade agreement before the leaders' meeting at the beginning of August," Thomas said after the meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.
The reinstatement of both the JICT and the BTA, Thomas added, was important because Malaysia is Indonesia's biggest trading partner in ASEAN, with a total trade of US$16 billion in 2015, while Malaysia's total investment in the country during 2010 to 2015 reached $8.9 billion.
"During the latest meeting between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, both Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to increase trade with an aim to reach $30 billion in the near future. It's quite a big target set by our respected leaders," he asserted.
Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed added that aside from BTA modernization, both countries also agreed to enhance their cooperation in herbal product-trade facilitation, crude palm oil (CPO) standardization and halal certification. (dmr)
