BRICS Is Not A Trade Agreement, Indonesian Exports Still Need Bilateral Paths
JAKARTA - Researcher from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Deni Friawan emphasized that Indonesia's membership in BRICS does not automatically provide convenience in exports or trading access to block member countries.
According to Deni, BRICS is not a trading organization such as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), and ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) or other similar agreements that have a formal commitment to lowering tariffs and increasing intermember trade.
"So it's not automatic that we join BRICS or we participate in BRICS, it strengthens trading or not, because he's not a trade agreement, so he doesn't have a written commitment to my knowledge, because it's not automatically like that," he told VOI, Tuesday, July 8.
He added that BRICS is more of a loose political and economic cooperation forum, not a formal trade agreement so that Indonesia's participation in BRICS does not immediately increase the volume of trade to fellow member countries.
Deni conveyed that to expand market access and increase exports, Indonesia still requires bilateral or multilateral trade agreements that can be negotiated specifically, including tariffs and other trade barriers.
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According to him, to increase competitiveness and attract investment, Indonesia must be able to provide a positive signal in the form of compliance with international standards and a willingness to reform bureaucracy and trade.
"The most important thing to increase our bargaining power is that it's not enough, for example, just capital that we have a lot of resources, a large population, has a large source critical mineral, that's not enough," he said.
Deni added that the most important thing is to show commitment to international standards, improve trade barriers, and carry out bureaucratic reform, especially in the investment sector, that way, when we negotiate or want to expand market access, our bargaining position will be much stronger.