The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomes the ratification of the Indonesia - Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IACEPA) by the Indonesian government as the last piece in the administrative process that sets the clock running on the 60-day entry into force timetable, which will see the agreement operational in July.
"ACCI led the Business Partnership Group (BPG) throughout the negotiations for this ground-breaking agreement, and we are pleased to see the last piece of the puzzle fall into place", said ACCI Director, Trade and International Affairs, Bryan Clark.
"It is marvellous to see a decade of effort between the Governments and private sectors of both nations coming to fruition."
"The coming into force of the agreement could not come at a more critical time. It signals the importance of free trade against the background of a rise in protectionism. I hope it sends a strong signal to Australian businesses that we need to diversify our economic interests into a broader range of nations than we did prior to the COVID19 crisis. "
"The concept of a "Comprehensive Economic Partnership" between Australia and Indonesia can be the catalyst for the types of relationships we have with New Zealand. That is, we should be close in our relationship as well as our geography."
"Indonesia is predicted to be the world's fourth-largest economy by 2050. We need to be building up our connections and integrating our economies as fast as we can, otherwise other nations will get in front of us in our closest neighbour. We need to encourage Indonesia to assist Australia in our own development, especially in Northern Australia."
"The new agreement paves the way for new opportunities not only in goods trade but especially in services and people to people links. Education, healthcare, financial services and e-commerce will all benefit from the connections that come from joining together our two nations to form a market of almost 300 million people. "
"The IACEPA won't do this on its own though, we need to work hard at making sure the opportunities can be realised as soon as practicable once the COVID-19 crisis has passed."
"Australia has an opportunity to assist our near neighbour to overcome the current health challenges. It would be a great ambition to include Indonesia in our "bubble" concept, once the time is right, to assist all the nations of our region to recover and reopen as fast as possible."
"The experience of all nations in the importance of digital delivery of health and other services, as well as supporting trade, will lead us into a new dimension of thinking about what global engagement means and how global supply chains will operate. IACEPA establishes the platform for a new 21st-century relationship that we can't afford to miss," Mr. Clark concluded.
