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OTTAWA, Bisnistoday – Indonesia and Canada reaffirmed their joint commitment to complete negotiations on the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA) by the end of 2024. This was declared during the opening session of the eighth round of ICA-CEPA negotiations. in Ottawa, Canada, Monday (24/6).

“We encourage those responsible for negotiating issues to intensify communication and exercise pragmatism so that all negotiation issues can be resolved. “Even if there are unresolved issues, we are confident that Indonesia and Canada can reach an agreement that is relevant and mutually beneficial”, underlined the Director General of International Trade Negotiations at the Indonesian Ministry of Commerce, Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, who led the Indonesian delegation in this eighth round.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Canada, Daniel Tumpal Simanjuntak, was also present at the opening session. Meanwhile, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for Global Affairs Aaron Fowler led the Canadian delegation.

During this eighth round, 20 negotiation issues and 1 expert discussion on the issue of state-owned enterprises were discussed. In addition, a discussion took place for the first time on the formation of a dialogue on critical minerals. This discussion marked a concrete manifestation of strategic cooperation between Indonesia and Canada as influential essential mineral producing countries in the world.

“Indonesia proposes dialogue regarding critical minerals under ICA-CEPA. “This proposal was put forward to explore the advantages of both countries in the processing of mineral resources and the development of new and renewable technologies,” Djatmiko said.

Meanwhile, Director of Bilateral Negotiations at the Indonesian Ministry of Commerce, Johni Martha, as deputy chief negotiator, said that in this round, Indonesia and Canada both hope that successes will be achieved on a certain number of negotiation issues.

“It is hoped that an agreement will be reached, among others, on the chapters on transparency, the fight against corruption and responsible business conduct; Chapter Temporary human movement; and the chapter on customs and trade facilitation. “We also hope that other negotiation issues can meet the commitments contained in the work program for accelerating the ICA-CEPA negotiations that was agreed by the two countries,” Johni added.

Business potential

The Indonesian Ministry of Commerce noted that total trade between Indonesia and Canada for the period January-April 2024 reached $1.1 billion. During this period, Indonesian exports to Canada were recorded at US$466 million, while Indonesian imports from Canada amounted to US$655 million.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s top export products to Canada in 2023 are telephone equipment, production products or waste, natural rubber, accessories, and luggage. Meanwhile, the main products Indonesia imports from Canada are wheat, fertilizer, soybeans and sawdust. /