ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Indonesia-Switzerland bilateral trade has experienced significant growth.
“Two years after the enactment of the Indonesia-EFTA CEPA, the value of trade between the two countries tripled to more than US$3 billion with a surplus of more than US$2 billion in a row for Indonesia,” said the Director General for America-Europe, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Umar Hadi at the 10th meeting of the Indonesia-Switzerland Joint Economic Trade and Commission (JETC) in Bern, 23 April 2024.
The 10th JETC meeting was chaired by Umar Hadi and Head of Bilateral Economic Relations, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Federal Department of Economic Affairs (EAER) Switzerland.
Bilateral trade and investment from Switzerland to Indonesia has shown an increase and still opens up opportunities for further improvement, especially after the entry into force of the Indonesia-EFTA CEPA, since November 1 2021. Bilateral agreements in the economic sector will also be immediately strengthened with the Bilateral Investment Treaty/Agreement on Increasing and Protecting Investment) , which was signed in 2022 and is expected to take effect in 2024.
“For Indonesia, Switzerland and the countries that are members of EFTA (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) are CEPA’s first partners in Europe, while Indonesia is EFTA’s first partner in ASEAN,” said the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Ngurah Swajaya.
The presence of the private sector from both countries and representatives of several ministries provides added value to encourage concrete implementation of commitments to increase economic cooperation.
The 10th JETC meeting raised issues of economic and development cooperation, continuation of Indonesia-Switzerland development cooperation for the 2025-2028 period, investment in technology-based and low-carbon industries, health cooperation, the digital economy, optimizing the use of CEPA, and cooperation in the field of vocational education and professionalism to increase the competitiveness of Indonesian industry.
“The 3-fold increase in trade value actually occurred at the end of Covid-19 and at a time when global economic conditions had not yet recovered, showing great commitment and potential to be developed for the benefit of both countries,” said Ambassador Ngurah.
This is a momentum that needs to be utilized to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation.
The 10th JETC meeting succeeded in agreeing on several concrete results, including starting discussions on extending development cooperation from 2025-2028, increasing the diversification of Indonesian export products to Switzerland, including increasing access for superior Indonesian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), increasing investment by utilizing Indonesia as part of the Swiss industrial supply chain in the Asian region.
The discussion also includes exploring cooperation in various other fields, such as tourism, avoidance of double taxation and air transportation cooperation.
Collaboration in the field of education, especially vocational and professionalism, has begun and will continue to be strengthened to support increasing the competitiveness of Indonesian industry, especially those based on technology and low carbon.
In strengthening the high-tech and low-carbon industrial ecosystem in Indonesia, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia will continue to approach Swiss industry, especially Small and Medium Size Enterprises.
Prior to the 10th JETC meeting, Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya also attended The Third Annual Meeting of the Swiss-Indonesia Trade and Sustainability Council in Zurich, 22 April 2024, as a series of JETC to continue cooperation on sustainability and trade issues, increasing the capacity of MSMEs in the Indonesian textile industry sector and infrastructure organized by KADIN Indonesia and Economiesuisse.
Economically, bilateral trade between Indonesia and Switzerland has exceeded US$3 billion in the last few years, especially since the enactment of Indonesia EFTA CEPA.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is currently the investment destination for around 150 Swiss companies in various fields.
Meanwhile, the Indonesia-Switzerland trade balance in 2023 will increase by 24.32%, with the export balance increasing by 20.37% and the import balance also increasing by 3.92% compared to 2022 (YoY).
Regarding investment, in 2023 Switzerland will be listed in 6th place among all European countries. The value of Swiss investment in Indonesia reached US$150,065 million in 750 projects. This figure increases by 12.17% compared to 2022. (AT Network)
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