VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The governments of Indonesia and Australia have agreed to accelerate the ratification of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which is still in ongoing process. Indonesian Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita said on Sunday that the CEPA is currently being processed. It is expected to be ratified this year and will be implemented in 2020. This was one of the points of discussion between Minister Enggartiasto Lukita and Australian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham on the sidelines of the G-20 Ministerial Meeting on Digital Trade and Economy in Tsukuba, Japan. ntara  News Agency reported, Minister Enggartiasto had confirmed that the ratification of the CEPA could accelerate the commitment to increase trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, which has been well established. Minister Enggartiasto further explained that the acceleration of this ratification is also due to the encouragement of the business world of both countries. Another point in the discussion conducted with Australia is related to the ongoing negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) among 16 member countries. The negotiations on  free trade commitments, launched in November 2012, are not easy to pursue because each country still has its own interests. According to Minister Enggartisto, Indonesia asked Australia to be flexible. In addition, it should be taken into consideration that  India has a new trade minister,  meanwhile Thailand as chair of ASEAN is also awaiting a new cabinet. Another  topic of discussion is about the importance of reforms in the World Trade Organization -WTO so that the organization has high bargaining power in resolving trade disputes. On this occasion, Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita also held a bilateral meeting with Deputy Minister of Trade of the People's Republic of China Wang Shouwen. The points that became the main discussion were the ease of export of swallow nests, agricultural products and tropical fisheries and fruits to China. In addition, they also discussed  the follow-up of the agreement regarding the establishment of a Trade Working Group between Indonesia and China.