"If those five issues are resolved by the end of this year, the IEU-CEPA can be completed. It is only one more negotiation," he said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to him, the five strategic issues are the focus of the ongoing 15th round of IEU-CEPA negotiations in Yogyakarta.
The first issue is related to government spending or purchases.
According to him, the European Union (EU) has asked Indonesia to conduct government spending openly. The Indonesian Government will follow up on the request by preparing a positive list regarding the procurement of goods that can be given international access.
Hartarto said that the second issue is related to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which are being considered to have commercial access in the IEU-CEPA.
"We want some of our SOEs to have a special assignment. They can accept that. While those who do not have the special assignment will not be discriminated and we will be using the business-to-business method for our commercial SOEs," he explained.
The third issue is related to export duties. Hartarto said that Indonesia still wants to develop its domestic industry, therefore the country cannot release export duties.
The fourth issue is the standardization of environmentally friendly products, and the fifth issue is Indonesia's request to solve all investment disputes via the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the minister said.
Fifteen rounds of IEU-CEPA negotiations have taken place, both in person and virtually, since they were launched on July 18, 2016.
The total trade between Indonesia and the EU was recorded at US$33.2 billion in 2022. For the same period, Indonesia's exports to the EU were pegged at US$21.5 billion, while its imports from the EU reached US$11.7 billion.
Related news: BP Batam invites EU to invest in city's development
Related news: Minister hopes IEU-CEPA negotiation completed by end of 2023
Translator: Indra Arief P, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
