Indonesia and Canada have concluded the First Round of Negotiations for the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA). This new round of trade cooperation between the two countries, which will be carried out in a hybrid manner on March 14-19, 2022, aims to encourage exports of Indonesian products to the North American market. In this negotiation, the Indonesian delegation was led by the Director General of International Trade Negotiations Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono as the Chief Negotiator of Indonesia, while the Canadian delegation was led by the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Policy and Negotiations for Global Affairs Arun Alexander as the Chief Negotiator of Canada.
The negotiations were held after the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi together with the Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng officially officially launched the ICA-CEPA Negotiations on June 21, 2021.
"The ICA-CEPA negotiations are a tangible manifestation of the commitment of the two countries with the hope that the establishment of trade cooperation can provide various benefits, increase trade and investment opportunities for business actors from Indonesia and Canada as a whole," said Djatmiko in a written statement, Sunday, March 20, 2022.
Overall, the ICA-CEPA negotiations included discussions which were divided into 17 Working Groups and three Expert Level Discussions. The working groups are trade in goods, trade in services, digital trade, legal provisions and institutional issues, trade security, provisions on origin of goods, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitation and phytosanitary, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures (STRACAP), good regulatory practices , investment, intellectual property, economic and technical cooperation, government procurement, transparency, competition, and dispute resolution.
As for the Expert Level Discussion, discussions were held on inclusive trade, labor and the environment. In this first round of negotiations, negotiators from the two countries focused on exchanging views on national policies and understanding each country's position on negotiating issues in general.
"It is targeted that the ICA-CEPA negotiations can be completed by the end of 2023. Therefore, negotiators from the two countries are advised to immediately schedule an intercession meeting before the 2nd Round of Negotiations and agree on a number of follow-up steps for today's negotiations," explained Djatmiko.
Currently, Indonesia only has one trade agreement on the American continent, namely with Chile, which is located in the South American region. Therefore, the ICA-CEPA negotiations are expected to be the entry point for Indonesia's export products to other North American regions, namely the United States and Mexico, considering that Canada has a trade agreement with the two countries.
In addition to access to the goods market, this negotiation also aims to increase Indonesia's trade in services exports, invite foreign investment to Indonesia, and encourage cooperation in priority sectors, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The total trade between Indonesia and Canada in 2021 was recorded at USD 3.1 billion. During that period, Indonesia's exports to Canada were recorded at USD1.1 billion, while Indonesia's imports from Canada amounted to USD2 billion. Indonesia's mainstay export commodities to Canada in 2021 are natural rubber, jerseys, motor vehicle accessories, tires, and footwear made of textile materials. Meanwhile, Indonesia's main imports from Canada in 2021 are wheat, fertilizers, pulp, soybeans and iron ore.
