Indonesia And Australia Sign Free Trade Agreement

According to Reuters, in March 4th, Indonesia signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Australia, eliminating almost all tariffs and promoting cooperation in trade and investment between the two countries.

On Monday morning local time, Indonesia trade minister Lukita (Enggartiasto Lukita) and Australian Trade Minister Bermingham (Simon Birmingham) signed the agreement at a hotel in Jakarta.

According to the agreement, Australia will completely eliminate tariffs on Indonesian imports, while Indonesia will gradually eliminate tariffs on 94% Australian imports.

The joint statement of the two sides said that after the signing of the agreement, Indonesia and Australia will continue to push forward the parliamentary approval process of this agreement, so that both economies can benefit from this agreement.

According to Bloomberg, Indonesia and Australia both see the signing of the agreement as the best opportunity to strengthen trade links.

At present, Indonesia is only Australia's fourteenth largest trading partner.

In fact, Indonesia and Australia have begun negotiations on the FTA since 2010, but the tense diplomatic relations between the two countries have led to slow progress in the negotiations.

Bloomberg said that with Australian Prime Minister Morrison and President Djoko Widodo of Indonesia facing pressure from the election, the two countries finally agreed on a trade agreement, hoping to win support for their general election.