REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and Japanese Parliamentary Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Komura Masahiro discussed improving bilateral, regional and multilateral trade cooperation between the two countries, including the completion of the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) Amending Protocol.

Zulkifli said Indonesia appreciated Japan's support in the completion of the negotiations on the IJEPA Amendment Protocol. Indonesia also encourages the completion of the legal scrubbing process and drafting the original text of the protocol in Indonesian and Japanese.

“The IJEPA Amendment Protocol is targeted to be signed by President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before October 2024,” Zulkifli said in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday (19/5/2024).

During the meeting, the two sides also discussed the development of regional issues, namely ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), mega FTA that has been in force since January 2, 2023 in Indonesia.

Indonesia encourages Japan to start discussing the implementation of the auto industry cooperation project initiative for electric cars. Where the initiative has been passed during the ASEAN-Japan 50th Anniversary High-Level Conference (Summit) in Tokyo, Japan, in 2023.

In addition, Japan provided support for the RCEP Secretariat to be fully operational immediately this year. “We also ask for Japan's support so that the RCEP accession procedure can be finalized immediately as soon as possible,” Zulkifli said.

Furthermore, Zulkifli invited Japan to support Peru's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Assurance priority 2024.

Indonesia's APEC economic outlook continues to support the multilateral trading system through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the development of regional economic integration through the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

“As APEC Trade Minister, discussions on digitisation, trade facilitation and inclusiveness need to continue to be encouraged,” he said.

Japan is Indonesia's trading partner country which ranks third, both as a country of export destination and import origin.

Over the past five years (2019-2023) the two countries' total trade has continued to rise with a trend of 9.14 percent. In January-March 2024, the total trade of Indonesia and Japan was recorded at 8.5 billion US dollars.

In that period, Indonesian exports to Japan were recorded at 5.1 billion US dollars and Indonesian imports from Japan recorded 3.3 billion US dollars, leaving Indonesia with a surplus of 1.8 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, in 2023, the two countries' total trade reached 37.2 billion US dollars with the value of Indonesian exports to Japan reaching 20.7 billion US dollars and Indonesian imports from Japan recorded 16.5 billion US dollars.

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