Jakarta ( WNAM MONITORING ): The Indonesian government is pursuing the finalization of several free trade agreements, with a number of countries, in a bid to curb import tariffs and expand access to export markets.
This was conveyed by Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso at the Bisnis Indonesia Mid-year Challenges 2025 event here on Tuesday.
He noted that agreements like the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA), whose negotiations have been concluded recently, will go far to determine the competitiveness of Indonesian export products.
According to Moegiarso, high import tariffs will burden production costs, potentially reducing the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the global markets.
In this regard, the government has recently finalized several strategic trade agreements.
Among them is the Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which was finalized on June 19, 2025.
Furthermore, following the completed negotiations of the IEU-CEPA, the agreement is targeted to take effect in 2026.
Indonesia has negotiated an agreement with the United States (US), which includes reducing the import tariff on Indonesian products entering the US market to 19 percent.
In addition, Indonesia has officially become a member of the BRICS since January 7, 2025, and is currently in the accession process to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
He expressed hope that by securing those trade agreements, Indonesia can strengthen its position in the global supply chains and sustainably expand national products’ access to global markets.
“For OECD, we are currently pursuing the implementation of standards that are recognized by the world so that we can improve our credibility,” he said.
