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Indonesia's Airlangga Boosts Economic Ties with UK Minister
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C
oordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto convened with the United Kingdom’s Minister of Trade for State Policy Greg Hands to strengthen the two countries’ close-knit economic cooperation.
During the meeting, which was held at a historic Churchill-era room in the Department for Business and Trade headquarters in London, Airlangga spoke with Hands on important milestones between Indonesia and the UK such as the establishment of a branch of King’s College London in Singhasari Special Economic Zone (KEK) as well as updates on the Indonesian election.
The close relationship between both countries is marked with an agreement by the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO), which is currently partnering in three working group sectors. Airlangga hoped that JETCO will be able to produce concrete results, especially in the energy and digital economy sectors.
Hands, accompanied by prime ministerial trade envoy to Indonesia Richard Graham, claimed that with the UK’s experience in clean energy, the country is poised to offer a clean energy partnership to Indonesia, which will be linked with subsidy policy management.
He further expressed his hopes that trade in dairy products and their derivatives would be within the JETCO framework, which still faces problems with the lengthy registration process in addition to the implementation of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) procedures.
In this regard, Airlangga emphasized that Indonesia was carrying out deregulation, which emphasizes an easier mechanism for registering milk products and their derivatives to support the increasing demand with a new government program to provide free milk for students.
At the same time, Airlangga also conveyed the impact of implementing British due-diligence regulations for Indonesian palm oil products and his hopes for fair regulatory treatment. Currently, Indonesia is voicing its disagreement with the implementation of European Union policies on sustainable products, and is working closely with Malaysia on managing sustainability product regulations.
Both ministers also discussed the notion of free trade cooperation, Indonesia's accession as a member of the OECD and regional cooperation, as Indonesia is ready to open free trade with the UK.
In response, Hands considered the importance of Indonesia's accession into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which the UK has just joined. Meanwhile, Graham discussed cooperation in the production of important minerals to encourage the battery industry.
The meeting closed with Hands inviting Airlangga to tour the headquarters and see the place where world maps were stored during the World War II period.
