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Indonesia, France talk about palm oil and aircraft industry
France and Indonesia talked about the palm oil trade and aircraft during the visit of French President Françoise Hollande to Jakarta on Wednesday.
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Prisident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo welcomes visiting French President Françoise Hollande at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on March 29. (Antara/ Puspa Perwitasari)
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rance and Indonesia talked about the palm oil trade and aircraft industry during the visit of French President Françoise Hollande to Jakarta on Wednesday.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his thanks to France for revoking an additional environmental tax on palm oil products.
To prevent a similar issue from arising again, both countries will work on a joint certification scheme similar to the domestic timber legality system (SVLK) under the European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT VPA) framework.
With a local SVLK license, local timber producers can export their products to the European Union without having to apply for a license there.
"Indonesia suggested that the successful FLEGT system also be applied for palm oil products," Jokowi said during a joint press conference at the State Palace on Wednesday.
(Read also: French CPO tax reversal to boost Indonesian exports: Association)
In response, Hollande said his country understood the importance of palm-oil products for countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, but environmental rules had to be obeyed.
"So we agree on the palm oil product joint certification system like for tropical timber products,” he said, adding that EU would seek to protect the interests of both consumers and producers.
In the transportation sector, France will help Indonesia to develop its aircraft industry and infrastructure in harbor cities.
"Indonesia is an archipelago and it has bought many planes from Airbus that were produced in our country. So we decided to help Indonesia develop the planes (aircraft industry). We will also develop port infrastructure in the harbor cities," he said. (bbn)
