"This is a historic moment since Indonesia will be the first OECD member from Southeast Asia and the third Asian member after Japan and South Korea," he said at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
The OECD Council agreed to open discussion on Indonesia's accession on Tuesday (February 20) in response to the country's willingness to join the organization.
According to a statement received from Hartarto's office, the decision on opening the discussion on accession was made by the OECD based on the assessment conducted by its member within the Evidence-based Framework for the Consideration of Prospective Members.
Indonesia has been one of the main partners of the OECD since 2007. The OECD is a strategic partner for the Indonesian government in formulating progressive and globally-accepted national policies.
Hartarto highlighted that for the next step, the OECD will issue a road map dedicated to Indonesia in its journey toward becoming a full member.
According to the minister, the government and OECD will work together to devise the road map that will focus on several priority issues, such as free trade and investment, public governance, integrity and corruption prevention, as well as environmental protection and measures for mitigating climate change.
The road map, he said, would serve as reference for conducting a technical review of the conformity between Indonesian regulations and OECD's standards.
"We are optimistic about this matter, considering that we have been successful in (completing) almost every (international) trade agreement," he stated.
The minister then expressed hope that by becoming an OECD member, Indonesia would be able to escape the middle-income trap, draw more investment, promote its business entities at the global level, bolster the quality of its human resources, endorse green economy, and conduct digitization.
He noted that Australia, Japan, Germany, and Slovakia had delivered their written statements to support Indonesia's accession to the OECD.
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Translator: Yashinta Difa, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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