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Indonesia presses for WTO reform at APEC meeting
During the two-day 2025 APEC trade ministers' meeting, Indonesia called for the reinstatement of the paralyzed WTO Appellate Body and for APEC members to defend the multilateral trading system amid growing protectionism.
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Trade Minister Budi Santoso (second right, seated) and his director general of international trade negotiations, Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono (right, seated), attend a session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting on May 15, 2025, at the International Convention Center Jeju in Jeju, South Korea. (Courtesy of/Trade Ministry)
T
rade Minister Budi Santoso has called for sweeping reforms of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to revive the global body’s stalled dispute settlement mechanism in the face of rising global protectionism.
Speaking in the second session on Thursday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade (APEC MRT) Meeting, which ran from May 15 to 16 in Jeju, South Korea, Budi urged member economies to adopt a more assertive role in defending the multilateral trading system and warned that without reforms, global trade could become fragmented and unpredictable.
“We support APEC’s efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system with a focus on WTO reform, including restoring the dispute settlement mechanism and ensuring a reliable and fair system,” he said.
Read also: ASEAN won’t retaliate to US tariffs, vows to safeguard bloc interest
Indonesia specifically called for the reinstatement of the WTO Appellate Body, which has been paralyzed since 2019 due to the United States vetoing the appointments of new judges.
The US is an APEC member, along with 20 other economies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Budi also flagged the growing use of tariffs as “detrimental to Indonesia’s economy and global trade stability”.
