[hanomantoto]

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia and Canada are pursuing bilateral economic relations. A 200-member trade mission from Canada will visit Indonesia in December 2024, and negotiations on the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA) entered the 10th round this month.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto received a visit from a Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste Jess Dutton at his office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. They discussed various progress in cooperation between the two countries.

One of the topics was the plan for the Canadian Trade Mission. “The Canadian Trade Minister and more than 200 Canadian business delegates from various sectors will explore potential cooperation priorities of both countries and better understand business regulations in Indonesia,” Dutton said, as quoted from the press release of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

The visit plan has been discussed for months. According to the schedule on the Canadian government’s website, the country will send a trade mission to Indonesia and the Philippines from December 1 to 6, 2024, led by Mary Ng as Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development.

The mission will focus on several sectors including agriculture and processed food, clean energy, and infrastructure.

In addition to discussing the trade mission, Indonesia and Canada hope that the ICA-CEPA negotiations can be completed and signed soon. “We will coordinate to conclude ICA-CEPA as soon as possible,” Airlangga said.

The 10th round of ICA-CEPA negotiations was held on Tuesday, November 5 in Bandung, West Java. The meeting, which was attended by Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti, aimed to resolve several outstanding issues.

These include the resolution of market access for goods, services, and investment, rules of origin, trade and sustainable development issues, and discussions on critical minerals.

During the meeting in his office, Airlangga also told Dutton several priorities of the Indonesian government under President Prabowo Subianto. The priorities he mentioned include critical minerals, food issues, and energy.

Dutton also mentioned various cooperation priorities that the two countries are working on, including the accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

According to the Ministry of Trade, the total trade volume between Indonesia and Canada reached US$2.08 billion in the first seven months of 2024. In the same period, Indonesia’s exports to Canada amounted to US$811.50 million, while Indonesia’s imports from Canada amounted to US$1.27 billion. Meanwhile, in 2023, the total trade between the two countries reached US$ 3.44 billion.

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