Hanoi (VNA) – European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič arrived in Indonesia on September 22 with the hope of closing a trade deal with Jakarta.
European Commission (EC) deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill said that the intention certainly is to finalise political negotiations for an EU-Indonesia trade agreement.
Last July, EC President Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, confident of concluding the negotiations in September this year.
By closing such a deal, the EU would secure access to a new market of around 280 million people.
Bilateral trade between EU and Indonesia reached 27.3 billion EUR (32.1 billion USD) in 2024, with EU exports worth 9.7 billion EUR and EU imports worth 17.5 billion EUR. The bloc will also strengthen its position in the region, since Indonesia was the EU’s fifth-biggest ASEAN trading partner in 2024.
Increasing trade access to new markets has become the EU’s top priority following the decision of the US, its historic trade partner, to impose tariffs on EU imports.
Under a trade agreement reached in July by the EC and the US administration, 15% tariffs apply to most EU goods, while 50% tariffs continue to apply to imports of EU steel and aluminium./.
