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Jokowi’s visit to Australia achieves concrete results: Minister
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Stronger ties: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his counterpart Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speak after an event on Sunday, the last day of Jokowi's first state visit to Australia. (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File) (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s state visit to Australia has achieved concrete results in the fields of economics, politics, law and security as well as in efforts to improve people-to-people relations, a minister has said.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that in economic matters, President Jokowi and his Australian counterpart, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had agreed to complete the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) at the end of 2017.
“Definitely, one thing that we always need to do is any arrangement we aim to achieve must be based on a partnership, which brings mutual benefits to both countries,” said Retno during a press conference provided for Indonesian journalists at International Convention Center, Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.
President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo arrived in Jakarta after their two-day state visit to Australia on Sunday, said the Presidential Office in a statement. The Indonesian presidential aircraft landed at 8:30 p.m.
(Read also: Indonesia, Australia want peaceful resolution in settling regional disputes)
In the area of trade, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita stated that Indonesia had obtained access to market herbicides and pesticides in its southern neighbor. Australia’s imports of the two kinds of chemical products amounted to in between US$1.3 billion and $1.5 billion.
With the extending of the access, it is expected that Indonesia’s exports of herbicides and pesticides, which have been long hampered by tariff barriers, can increase, said Enggartiasto.
The Indonesian government will also align the tariffs on sugar imported from Australia and ASEAN. “We will continue to import sugar but now, some part will still be imported from Thailand and some others will be from Australia,” said the minister, adding this policy was aimed at reducing Indonesia’s dependence on sugar imports from one country only. (ebf)
