"Now it is on the stage of pre-negotiation. There are still principles that need to agreed upon first before negotiations could be carried out."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia hopes talks on Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IA-CEPA) could be finished by the end of this year.

"Hopefully it could finish by the end of this year. It would be better if they could be finished earlier," the director general of international trade cooperation of the ministry of trade, Gusmardi Bustami, said here on Wednesday.

Gusmardi made the statement after attending a meeting between trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu and her Australian counterpart Craig Emerson at the former`s office earlier that day.

He said the governments of Indonesia and Australia were still holding talks to prepare negotiations on the partnership.

"Now it is on the stage of pre-negotiation. There are still principles that need to agreed upon first before negotiations could be carried out," he said.

He said basically the two parties had already agreed on the principles for carrying out the process of negotiations covering among others aspects of trade and sustainable development through economic cooperation that could really be taken advantage of by business players.

Gusmardi said the comprehensive economic partnership with Australia was expected to be able to open opportunities for Indonesia to increase trade by supplying more products to that country and eliminate trade barriers it is still facing so far.

"According to data that I received after the signing of the free trade deal between Australia and Thailand in 2004 Thailand`s trade with that country had risen and our trade with Australia immediately dropped. The agreement is expected to be able to turn around the trend," he said.

Mari Elka Pangestu said the governments of the two countries had prepared the IA-CEPA negotiations well by involving all stake holders concerned so that they could give benefits to both sides.

"Therefore Indonesian and Australian chambers of commerce and industries would be involved in the preparations for the negotiations. So the agreement to be made is expected to be able to increase trade that benefits and complements each other," she said.

Trade minister Emerson meanwhile said preparations for the negotiations had been done thoroughly so that the economic cooperation to be made would give maximal benefit to the two countries.

"I am optimistic the cooperation will increase trade, investment and other technical cooperation benefiting the two sides," he said.

Australia is one of Indonesia`s important trade partners. According to data of the ministry of trade total trade between the two countries in 2010 reached US$8.34 billion and in January 2011 reached US$641.99 million.

Indonesia`s exports to that country in 2010 were recorded at US$4.24 billion while its imports at US$4.09 billion.

Indonesia`s non-oil/gas exports to that country in 2010 reached US$2.36 billion up from US$1.71 billion in the previos year.

Its non-oil/gas imports from Australia meanwhile were recorded at US$4.09 billion increasing from US$3.37 billion in 2009.
(T.M035/H-YH/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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