Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for the Economy met with Richard Graham, British Prime Minister’s Envoy for Trade for Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and ASEAN as a form of support for Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023 and discussed a number of issues including downstream industry and palm oil.
“Indonesia appreciates Britain’s support for Indonesia, both on the ASEAN Chair agenda and the bilateral relations between Indonesia and the UK which have been well built and maintained,” said Hartarto, on June 7, 2023.
During the meeting, the UK expressed its support for Indonesia’s Priority Economic Deliverables (PED), such as developing a framework for industrial initiatives in the ASEAN region and preparing a roadmap scheme to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the ASEAN Region.
Airlangga and Graham also discussed drafting regulations regarding derivatives of Due Diligence on Forest Risk Commodities.
Airlangga hoped that the UK will not follow the European Union’s issuance of Deforestation-Free Regulations (EUDR) regulations which have the potential to harm small farmers and disrupt Indonesia’s main exports such as palm oil.
“Indonesia is ready to hold further discussions to equalize mutual understanding with the British side in order to find steps and common ground that are fair and non-discriminatory that can be accepted by both parties,” said Hartarto.
In addition, both parties wish to explore the possibility of continuing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations through the economic and trade cooperation dialogue platform, the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
“This collaboration will benefit both parties. Indonesia has a large domestic market and the products produced can also be exported, and are complementary,” concluded Hartarto.
Meanwhile, the UK wants to develop Indonesia’s education sector. Hartarto gave the green light for cooperation in the field of education with Brawijaya University and the Singasari Special Economic Zone in Malang with the UK.
