VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and Morocco have agreed at a meeting recently to enhance trade cooperation by activating the joint trade commission (JTC) forum and starting negotiations on the preferential trade agreement (PTA) soon. The meeting was a follow up to the signing of a joint statement by Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita and Moroccan Junior Trade Minister Rakiya Eddarhem in June 2018 to activate the JTC forum and form the Indonesia-Morocco PTA.

"In an effort to maintain the momentum of signing the joint statement, Indonesia and Morocco have decided on steps to convene the first meeting of the JTC forum and form the PTA at the end of March or early April 2019 in Jakarta," Director of Bilateral Negotiations at the Indonesian Trade Ministry Ni Made Ayu Marthini noted in a written statement released on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached after the two nations held a technical meeting in Jakarta recently.  The Indonesian delegation to the meeting was led by Ni Made Ayu Marthini, while the Moroccan delegation was chaired by senior researcher for Asia and America of the Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy Asmaa Mkhentar.

Marthini said the two nations also agreed on the term of reference to launch the meeting of the JTC forum. JTC will not only function as a forum for holding regular bilateral meetings to discuss trade barriers but will also play a significant role in supporting the negotiations on PTA. Through the JTC forum, the governments of both nations will also discuss ways to encourage business interactions between their private sectors.

The business interactions will result in the identification of products having the trade potential to increase, so they will become the indicators of products negotiated in the PTA. (ant)