Trade between Indonesia and EU

Delvia Erfani Olii

1801405424

this time is about Indonesia and EU,

The EU and Indonesia signed a Partnership Cooperation Agreement in 2009.

Intense contacts have taken place since 2011 to explore the possibility to further deepen EU-Indonesia relations and negotiate a Comprehensive economic partnership agreement. Indonesia is the largest economy in the Association of South-Asian Nations (ASEAN) representing 40% of its GDP and population (244 million inhabitants). However, it ranks only at the fourth position inside the region as EU's trading partner (and 29th overall), with a bilateral merchandise trade just reaching €23.5 billion in 2011. Total trade in commercial services between EU and Indonesia in 2011 amounted to €3.7 billion and represented more than 14% of the total trade.  

The co-operation between the EU and Indonesia is ensured mainly through the EU-ASEAN Dialogue which includes discussions on trade and investment issues at ministerial and senior economic official levels. Indonesia is one founding member of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN countries as a group are the EU's fifth largest trading partner outside Europe, after the United States, China, Russia and Switzerland. Bilateral trade in goods between the EU and ASEAN reached some €164 billion in 2011. Negotiating better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market was identified as a priority under the 2006 Global Europe trade strategy.

After Free Trade Area negotiations between the EU and a group of ASEAN countries proved difficult, in December 2009, the EU decided to pursue negotiations towards free trade agreements with individual ASEAN countries, beginning with Singapore and followed by Malaysia and Vietnam. That said, the EU is not losing sight of the ultimate goal of achieving an agreement within a regional framework. Indonesia currently enjoys trade preferences with the EU under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences. That said, the EU is not losing sight of the ultimate goal of achieving an agreement within a regional framework: bilateral negotiations with ASEAN members would constitute building blocks towards a future region-to-region agreement.