The Jakarta Post
Indonesia plans to exclude the “sensitive” commodities of rice, weaponry and alcoholic beverages from its scheduled commitment to eliminating tariffs in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). “These are the sectors that we always consider to be very, very sensitive for Indonesia,” Iman Pambagyo, the Trade Ministry director general for international trade cooperation, said in a virtual discussion. “We never include them in our commitment under any agreement.” Earlier this month, Indonesia joined the nine other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand in signing the RCEP. The participating countries of the landmark deal represent nearly one-third of the global economy. Quoting data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the Trade Ministry said that th...