President Jokowi: Indonesia-EU CEPA Negotiations Should Be Finalized Soon

President Jokowi holds a bilateral meeting with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, at the Grand Prince Hotel, Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday (05/21). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

In a bilateral meeting with President of the European Commission (EU) Ursula von der Leyen at Grand Prince Hotel, Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday (05/21), President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed hope that negotiations related to the Indonesia-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) should be finalized soon.

“Regarding Indonesia-EU CEPA, Indonesia hopes that the negotiations will be completed at the latest next year,” the President stated.

Both leaders also share a common view on the importance of the Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiations to be finalized soon. Meanwhile, regarding the EU deforestation regulation, the President said that since the beginning of the discussion, Indonesia has raised objections to the regulation. According to him, the regulation could hamper trade and harm small farmers in Indonesia.

“The benchmarking process with a cut-off date starting 2020 must be truly transparent and objective. For the record, Indonesia’s 2019-2020 deforestation rate has dropped 75 percent to 115,000 hectares. This is the lowest rate since 1990 and it continues to decline,” he stressed.

Finally, the President added that Indonesia and Malaysia will conduct a joint mission to Brussels to deliver objections to various harmful EU regulations and submit concrete data to the EU. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/UN) (FI/HD)