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Free trade talks with EU to wrap up this month, Airlangga says
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Shipping activities are pictured at Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok seaport on May 20, 2024. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
I
ndonesia and the European Union are expected to conclude talks over an economic cooperation deal that will relax trade barriers this month, Jakarta's top economic minister said on Saturday.
Southeast Asia's largest economy and the 27-member European bloc have been negotiating since 2016 to strike a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment.
Ties have been frayed by a proposed import ban on products linked to deforestation into the EU that has angered Indonesia because it is a major palm oil exporter.
However, Jakarta's chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto told an online briefing on Saturday that talks were nearing their conclusion.
"We already have entered the final round. This means that we have resolved almost all issues," Airlangga told reporters.
He said in an earlier statement Indonesia and the EU would announce the conclusion of the negotiations by the end of June.
Airlangga did not disclose any agreements that would be part of the deal.
He said the next step was a legal drafting process to be completed in a "short time" before the two parties could ratify the agreement.
One of the main points of the agreement is the eradication of non-tariff barriers and the lowering of tariffs to make their markets more accessible to the other, Airlangga said.
"A strategic advantage for Indonesia is the opening of the European market which has so far been subject to relatively higher tariffs and import duties compared to our neighboring countries," he said.
The EU will also give "special treatment" to Indonesia on its top exports, potentially including forestry products, Airlangga said without elaborating.
The European bloc is Indonesia's fifth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade between them reaching US$30.1 billion last year, according to Airlangga's statement.
