Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto held a meeting with the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs of India, Mr. Piyush Goyal on Tuesday (14/11) in a series of IPEF Ministerial Meetings in San Francisco.
India has clearly requested a relaxation of non-tariff barriers for Indian products in Indonesian markets such as pharmaceuticals and automotive. India also promised to invest in Indonesia for several sectors.
The meeting was productive in discussing the exploration of cooperation opportunities in various fields such as agriculture and animal husbandry, food security, the automotive industry, renewable energy and the mining industry as an effort to balance trade between the two countries.
Minister Piyush expressed his appreciation for Indonesia’s support in making India’s G20 Presidency a success in September 2023. India also appreciated Indonesia’s support for achieving the completion of the IPEF Pillar II, III and IV negotiations.
“We are looking forward to the positive effects of IPEF on trade and investment, especially with Indonesia,” said Minister Piyush at the start of the bilateral meeting in an official statement, Wednesday (15/11/2023).
Airlangga hopes that relations between Indonesia and India will become closer, and stated that India is Indonesia’s reliable trading partner, especially in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We really appreciate this good bilateral relationship. Regarding the G20, Indonesia is interested in being part of the Global Biofuel Alliance which was launched at the G20 India, considering that Indonesia is one of the largest biofuel producers in the world,” said Airlangga.
Minister Piyush expressed India’s willingness to invest in Indonesia in the clean energy sector, considering the large potential for new and renewable energy in Indonesia and the existence of the Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) program. Minister Piyush also highlighted the importance of balance in trade.
“We hope that the Indonesian market can be more competitive and provide opportunities for quality Indian products in Indonesia,” said Minister Piyush.
Minister Piyush hopes that his automotive and pharmaceutical products will be accepted in Indonesia, and hopes that Indonesia can minimize non-tariff barriers for Indian products in the Indonesian market.
India also hopes for wider investment opportunities for airport, pharmaceutical and hospital construction projects. Minister Piyus also encouraged concrete investment collaboration in Special Economic Zones (KEK) between one of the groups of companies managing Indonesian hospitals and the Apollo Hospital Group from India.
The two Ministers also discussed strengthening trade for agricultural and livestock commodities such as sustainable market access for Indonesian palm oil in India, and rice and meat commodities. “India remains the main consideration to become a supplier of several important commodities in Indonesia,” said Coordinating Minister Airlangga. The two Ministers also discussed cooperation on urea fertilizer to maintain food security between the two countries.
In the closing session, Minister Piyush invited Indonesia to enter into halal certification cooperation with India to provide opportunities to increase trade in halal products between the two countries through Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) cooperation between the two countries.
Source: CNBC Indonesia
