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Trade pact expected to boost Indonesia-Australia ties
“We want openness so that we can have more trade, investment, tourism between Indonesia and Australia. That’s the direction we want,” Jokowi said in Mount Ainslie, Canberra, as reported by Antara news agency on Sunday.
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Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) walks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) as they leave the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra on February 10, 2020.
(AFP/Tracey Nearmy / POOL)
I
ndonesia is hoping its 70-year-old ties with Australia will only grow stronger after ratifying a trade deal that will bring the two major Asia-Pacific economies closer.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo arrived in Canberra on Saturday evening for his fourth state visit to Indonesia's southern neighbor, where he is scheduled to address the Australian parliament, meet high-ranking Australian government officials and attend the Indonesia-Australia business roundtable.
Jokowi is slated to meet his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, for an annual leaders’ meeting on Monday, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) and launch a 2020-2024 plan of action that will serve as a guideline for the trade deal.
“We want openness so that we can have more trade, investment, tourism between Indonesia and Australia. That’s the direction we want,” Jokowi said in Mount Ainslie, Canberra, as reported by Antara news agency on Sunday.
The trade deal, which was inked last year and only ratified by the House of Representatives on Thursday, will enter into force 60 days after being ratified. The agreement came along after years of negotiations that were interrupted by various diplomatic scandals, including a phone-tapping scandal in 2013.
"The President is visiting right after the ratification of the IA-CEPA, so for the next five years we will have a clear road map based on the action plan we have agreed on,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in a recorded press briefing that was released by the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
