AIBCnews: Issue 175 - February 2019
Dear Members and Friends,
This week is a truly historic one for relations between Australia and Indonesia, with the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA). This Agreement was first contemplated back in 2007, with a Joint Feasibility Study into an FTA between Indonesia and Australia.
Through much of the intervening time, AIBC has played an active role in supporting the negotiation effort through our founding membership of the Indonesia-Australia Business Partnership Group (IA-BPG), along with ACCI, Ai Group, IABC, KADIN and APINDO. This IA-BPG made two submissions to both Governments jointly, and many of the ideas proposed have found their way into the final Agreement (notably the MoU for the Indonesia-Australia Skills Development Exchange Pilot Project).
IA-CEPA signed by Trade Ministers Birmingham and Lukita (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Along with a number of other AIBC Board members, and AIBC members from a variety of organisations, I was fortunate to participate in the signing ceremony and the associated Business Forum, headed by Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla and our respective Trade Ministers, Birmingham and Lukita. This IA-CEPA of course is not just about the people in that room, but is a great opportunity to engage with a wide range of businesses, in both countries, that have not seen opportunities for them to participate in Trade and Investment between Australia and Indonesia as a priority. AIBC looks forward to partnering with Austrade and other key stakeholders in the ‘socialisation’ of IA-CEPA, and in encouraging many to tap into the benefits of this new Agreement.
The full text of the IA-CEPA, with a range of Industry Specific Fact Sheets, is available on DFAT’s IA-CEPA webpage here, and a recent Media Release on IA-CEPA from AIBC can be found here.
With IA-CEPA now signed, we again look forward to joining our colleagues from the Indonesia Australia Business Council for their Conference to be held in Bali 3-5 November. Whilst planning for this Conference remains in the early days, we encourage you to put these dates in your diary. To continue reading the entire AIBC National Newsletter, please click here.
