Trade Minister Budi Santoso delivered this at the meeting during which he also emphasized the importance of the Free-Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in the integration of the Asia-Pacific region in accordance with APEC Putrajaya 2040 Vision.

“WTO is the main pillar of the Multilateral Trade System. To ensure that the system stay relevant, we should have open dialogs and take a step to reform WTO. This is important to achieve an inclusive, mutually interconnected and sustainable growth and, at the same time, strengthen the stability of our global supply chain value,” said Trade Minister Budi in a statement on Saturday.

According to Budi, WTO’s role of serving as a foundation for multilateral trade system remains unchanged, providing crucial working framework to cope with shared challenges among diverse economy

“To retain its relevance and effectiveness of WTO, we should reform WTO so as to produce meaningful result.

Indonesia is confident that acceleration of discussion about WTO Dispute Settlement Reform was paramount by prioritizing two-level recovery of the dispute settlement system through the appointment of Appellate Body (Badan Banding) members.

“This is important to restore members’ confidence in WTO and strengthen credibility in settling trade dispute,” he said.

The trade minister also underscored the importance of just and equitable market access for agriculture products, especially from developing countries. Apart from that, it is also of paramount importance to empower small-and-middle enterprises (SMEs) from developing countries to participate in global trade.

“WTO can advocate this by providing technical assistance, scaling up capacity, and handling non-tariff hurdles that have significant impact on SMEs, which can drive more inclusive global market,” Budi said.

Foreign Minister Sugiono and Director General of International Trade Negotiations at the Trade Ministry Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono also attended the APEC Ministerial Meeting.

Meanwhile Djatmiko added that Indonesia was committed to advancing inclusivity and advocated special article on woman economy empowerment in the MC13 Ministerial Declaration.

He said that increasing woman role in trade will enhance economic resilience and prosperity so that this will bring benefits to the people and economy as a whole.

In tackling environmental challenge, Indonesia is also aware of the importance of efforts to protect the environment and conduct a mitigation of the climate change.

“However, it is important to ensure that the policy of environment related to the trade should not be discriminatory in nature or create unnecessary obstacles on international trade, especially for developing countries,” Djatmiko said.

Related to FTAAP, Djatmiko explained that to realize the vision, collaboration, to scaling up capacity, and flexibility are important in accommodating diverse development level in APEC. These include creating working framework to integrate in stages and provide support for economy in various stages of readiness.

“Maximizing FTAAP potential fully also requires the handling of major issues, including supply chain resilience, investment facility, and erasing technical hurdle to trade. By lifting UKM up to an equal position, we can encourage Asia-Pacific to be more resilient, inclusive and prosperous,” he said.

Indonesia is highly confident that with the collective endeavor, shared vision, and mutually respect, we can advance Putrajaya 2040 Vision, ensuring the shared prosperity useful for all people.

The 35^th APEC Ministerial Meeting focused on three main meeting agendas, namely innovation and digitalization for formal and global economic transition, sustainable growth; and trade and investment for inclusive and connected development.

During the AMM, Indonesia also highlighted the decrease of food waste, energy transition, and hydrogen innovation. Indonesia also drives investment and collaboration on economic resilience and sustainable energy.

On the sideline of the AMM, Trade Minister Budi also held a number of bilateral meetings with trade partners, including Japan, Singapore and Canada.

Earlier, Minister Budi also held a bilateral meeting with South Korea, and Hong Kong.  The meetings aimed to boost trade with trade partners

Apart from that, Trade Minister Budi also accompanied President Prabowo Subianto in several agendas, including paying official visit to the President of the Republic of Peru, Dina Boluarte, at the Government Palace of Peru and APEC CEO Summit.

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