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Govt urges lawmakers to ratify backlogged trade deals
The Trade Ministry has demanded that the legislature immediately pass three international trade deals so they can be enacted to leverage the country’s economic recovery.
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Trade Minister M. Lutfi (left) hands over a document to House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani on April 9, 2021 at the Senayan legislative compound in Jakarta, after lawmakers approved a draft trade bill. (Courtesy of Trade Ministry)
The government has urged lawmakers to swiftly pass three trade agreements, arguing that prolonging their ratification would lose the country’s momentum in trade policies and economic recovery.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for Asia-Pacific countries, the Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK-CEPA) and the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) are the three backlogged deals awaiting lawmakers’ approval.
Trade Minister M. Lutfi said on Monday that the RCEP was the most urgent among the three, since it would take effect on Jan. 1, with the 12 partnering countries expected to have ratified the deal before the year-end. Meanwhile, Indonesia was the only member yet to ratify the deal, despite signing it in November 2020 and its role in initiating and chairing the negotiations.
“We have asked [House of Representatives] Commission VI, which oversees trade and investment, to fast-track the RCEP’s approval through a law so it can be implemented at the beginning of next year,” Lutfi told lawmakers during a House meeting on Monday.
Signing more trade deals is part of President Joko Widodo's strategy to boost exports and investments, as the country is seen to be lagging behind its peers with more open markets.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo sent separate presidential letters in March and April to begin the deliberation of the deals, but the legislature has yet to ratify them.
Lawmakers blamed the holdup on full calendars. “We have a lot on our agenda, but we still support [the deals], which yesterday we [expressed]. There is nothing slow in the House,” House Commission VI member Andre Rosiade told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
