Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 16 December 2018. The agreement was reached between Indonesia and the EFTA countries – Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland – after eight years of negotiations. The discussion on market access for Indonesia’s palm oil to EFTA countries was the main concern in the delayed negotiations.
The CEPA provides market access of goods from Indonesia and EFTA, as well as increase economic cooperation and investments between the countries. Through EFTA, Indonesia will obtain market access in terms of:
Goods: Fishery, textile, furniture, bicycle, electronic, tire, coffee, palm oil, agricultural products and palm oil.
Services: Intra-corporate trainees, contract service suppliers, independent professionals and young professionals of the EFTA.
Investment: Energy, mining, machineries, agriculture, Infrastructure, fisheries, forestry and chemical industry.
In addition, Indonesia will receive opportunities in cooperation and capacity building in fisheries and marine, export promotion and tourism, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), cocoa, sustainability, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and vocational education.
According to the data by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), trade between Indonesia and EFTA reached USD 2.4 billion, while investment of EFTA to Indonesia stood at USD 621 million. Indonesia’s exports to EFTA include jewelry, optical devices, gold, telephone devices and essential oils. Indonesia imports gold, turbo jet machines, medicines, fertilizers and raw industrial materials from EFTA.
(Sources: The Jakarta Post; Nikkei Asian Review)
