According to the minister, this increase would put Indonesia’s export performance on par with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
“We are informing exporting industries to Europe and hope that we can increase our exports in the next three years by 50 percent, to be on par with Vietnam or Malaysia,” he informed at a press conference on Friday.
He described the target as realistic since the IEU CEPA will reduce the EU’s import tariffs on several of Indonesia’s leading commodities.
Currently, export tariffs for products such as textiles and fisheries to the European Union are still around 8–12 percent. Through the IEU CEPA, these tariffs are targeted to be reduced to zero percent.
Hartarto urged domestic textile and garment industry players to establish communication with trading partners in Europe to take advantage of this opportunity.
Besides textiles, the domestic fisheries sector can also compete at the global level, given Indonesia’s considerable maritime potential, he added.
Hartarto said Indonesia is not afraid to compete with Europe in the automotive sector, which is also a part of the IEU CEPA negotiations. The Indonesian government will continue to encourage the creation of a level playing field for domestic players, he added.
He also drew attention to the inclusion of palm oil (CPO) within the scope of the IEU CEPA, after it had been excluded previously.
"Palm oil is included in the agreement. This is such a progress and will be given facilities to be utilized immediately. Palm oil will be distinguished between food grade and fuel," he informed.
Responding to concerns regarding non-tariff barriers, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the minister said the Indonesian government has called for strengthening mitigation of the regulation in one of the IEU CEPA chapters on trade sustainability.
“We hope that non-tariff barriers will be reduced. We need a more defined standard on this. Later, there will be a section of the agreement related to trade sustainability, and that includes palm oil, where we ask the mitigation of the EUDR to be strengthened,” he disclosed.
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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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