ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Indonesia and Peru started the First Indonesia-Peru Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IP-CEPA) negotiations in Lima, Peru, on Monday, 27 May 2024.
The negotiations are scheduled to take place on 27-30 May 2024.
Indonesia and Peru are targeting completion of IP-CEPA negotiations in November 2024. The negotiations were officially opened by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, Elizabeth Galdo, and the Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, Ricky Suhendar.
During these negotiations, the Indonesian delegation was led by the Director of Bilateral Negotiations as Chair of the Indonesian Negotiating Team Johni Martha, while the Peruvian delegation was led by the Director of Asia, Oceania and Africa of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism as Chair of the Peruvian Negotiating Team Gerardo Meza.
Minister Galdo said that IP-CEPA is expected to provide trade benefits for Indonesia and Peru.
“The IP-CEPA agreement is not just about trade, it will also expand Peru’s presence in Southeast Asia and Indonesia in Latin America. “It is hoped that IP-CEPA will provide benefits for both countries,” said Minister Galdo.
Johni also said the same thing. According to him, the trade potential between the two countries is still quite large. This is considering that the total population in Peru is 34 million people with a gross domestic product value of US$ 239.3 billion. Apart from that, IP-CEPA can open up wider trade opportunities between the two countries.
“Peru is Indonesia’s non-traditional trading partner which has quite large potential. Peru can be a hub for Indonesian products in Central America and South America.
“Therefore, the IP-CEPA negotiations play an important role as opening the way and opportunities for wider trade between Indonesian and Peruvian business actors,” added Johni.
In this first round, the two parties started negotiations on the goods sector first. The goods sector includes goods trade market access, rules of origin of goods, customs and trade facilitation, economic cooperation, technical barriers to trade, trade security; protection of human, animal or plant health; dispute resolution; as well as the legal and institutional framework.
A Glance at Indonesia-Peru
Trade In the January-March 2024 period, total trade between Indonesia and Peru will reach US$97.4 million. In this period, Indonesia’s exports to Peru were recorded at US$63.9 million, while Indonesia’s imports from Peru were recorded at US$33.5 million, so that Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of US$30.43 million.
Meanwhile, in 2023, total trade between the two countries will reach US$444.4 million with the value of Indonesia’s exports to Peru amounting to US$367.4 million and Indonesia’s imports from Peru amounting to US$77 million. Thus, Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus with Peru of US$290.4 million. The total trade value between Indonesia and Peru in the last five year period (2019-2023) experienced a positive trend of 19.9 percent.
Peru is the 45th destination country for Indonesia’s non-oil and gas exports and the 62nd country of origin for Indonesia’s imports.
In 2023, Indonesia’s main exports to Peru will include motor vehicles and cars (US$144 million), biodiesel (US$31.8 million), footwear (US$44.9 million) and paper (US$13.2 million).
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s main imports from Peru include cocoa beans (US$ 33.1 million), fresh/dry grapes (US$ 19.7 million), phosphate mineral or chemical fertilizers (US$ 8.5 million), unwrought zinc (US$ 5 .3 million), and metal slag (US$2.5 million). (ATN)
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