VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and South Korea have agreed to set a target to finalize negotiation on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of this year.

"The agreement on finalizing their negotiation on IK-CEPA (Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) by the end of 2019 is made by taking the momentum of the 30th ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit held in South Korea," Indonesia's Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said in a statement Jakarta on Sunday.

The agreement was made during a bilateral meeting between Lukita and South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Myung Hee Yoo on the sidelines of the 8th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, China.

According to Lukita, both countries have agreed to focus on discussion on market access and cooperation to reach the target.

Both countries, he said, has a common view to support the completion of RCEP negotiations in 2019.

During the meeting, Lukita has also invited South Korean businessmen to participate in the 34th Trade Expo Indonesia, due to be held on October 16-20 in Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) Bumi Serpong Damai in Tangerang, Banten.

A data of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showed that the two countries' bilateral trade in 2018 was recorded at US$18.6 billion, with Indonesia enjoyed a surplus of US$443.6 million.

South Korea is the seventh largest export destination for Indonesian products and the sixth largest importer to Indonesia.

Indonesia's export to South Korea reached US$9.53 billion in 2018, or up 14 percent compared to the previous year at US$8.20 billion while Indonesian import from the country was recorded at US$9.1 billion in 2018, or up 9 percent compared to import in 2017 at US$8.12 billion.(ANTARA)