Government to establish trade negotiation team
Government to establish trade negotiation team
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The government is establishing a team of international trade
negotiators to prepare, coordinate and work for Indonesia's
interests on multilateral, regional and bilateral levels of free-
trade talks.
"We are preparing a presidential regulation draft on the
national team for international trade negotiations with a new
structure," Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu announced to the
public on Thursday.
Currently, there is one national team, specifically for World
Trade Organization (WTO) talks.
Mari said Indonesia needed a more integrated team since it was
not only dealing with talks at the WTO, but also on the regional
level, such as within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and with its dialog partners.
Moreover, she added, Indonesia would have more bilateral free
trade agreement negotiations.
According to Mari, the national team would be constantly "on-
guard" to monitor the development in the international trade
talks and ensure Indonesia's interests were properly accommodated
in various trade agreements.
She said the team would be headed by the trade minister, but
there would also be an executive director responsible for daily
activities such as preparing and coordinating negotiations as
well as managing a strong secretariat to prepare materials for
upcoming talks.
The executive director will be the trade minister's special
expert staff for international trade.
According to the presidential regulation draft, the national
team's board of advisors includes the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin), former Indonesian Ambassador to
the WTO and other international trade experts.
Mari said all related ministries were expected to have two
dedicated officials on the team, and they would be involved in
the negotiations from time to time.
On the multilateral level, Indonesia is constantly dealing
with complex negotiations with the WTO. The talks include trade
liberalization of farm products as well as industrial goods and
services.
While in the regional forum, Indonesia not only has to be
prepared for free trade talks within ASEAN, but in the grouping
with its dialog partners such as China, Japan, India, South
Korea, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand.
Indonesia has also started to pursue bilateral FTA talks with
neighboring countries Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the
Philippines, each of which is more advanced in establishing FTAs
with the region's major trade partners such as the United States
and Japan.
International and local observers have said that Indonesia
possess a strong position in international trade, but lacks
domestic coordination and, particularly, an explicit blueprint
for country, which make it unable to take full advantage of its
position.
Having an "off-guard" stance in the international trade talks
-- be it the WTO, regional or bilateral levels -- can create many
problems, and result in Indonesia losing out on a lot of
potential trade.