IEU-CEPA Officially Signed: Textile Industry To Indonesian Furniture Access To European Markets

BALI - The Indonesian government and the European Union have officially signed a cooperation and announced the completion of the substance of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) negotiations on Tuesday, September 22, 2025, in Bali.

The signing of this cooperation was carried out by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Airlangga Hartarto and the European Union Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic.

In his remarks, Airlangga said that the IEU-CEPA negotiation process had lasted nearly a decade with the signing of this agreement becoming an important milestone marking the start of a new era in bilateral relations between Indonesia and the European Union.

According to Airlangga, the European Union is Indonesia's fifth-largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 30 billion US dollars in 2024 and of this amount, Indonesia's exports were recorded at around 13 billion US dollars.

"This partnership involves more than 723 million people and a total economic value of around 21 trillion US dollars. This means that the potential for the future is very large," he said at the signing of the agreement in Nusa Dua Bali, Tuesday, September 23.

He also emphasized that the government is targeting the IEU-CEPA agreement to take effect no later than the first quarter of 2027.

Furthermore, Airlangga hopes that this agreement will immediately provide concrete benefits, especially in encouraging leading industrial sectors in Indonesia including the textile, footwear, finished clothing, furniture, and various other labor-intensive industries that currently absorb around 5 million workers.

"Between now until the enactment of the agreement, we will focus on tangible results, especially for labor-intensive industries such as textiles, footwear, finished clothing, and sector furniture that currently employs around 5 million workers in Indonesia. Now, they have new hope because their export market is wider open to Europe," he said.

In addition, Airlangga also hopes that by signing this agreement, it can strengthen the supply chain with the European Union, especially for sectors such as critical minerals, renewable energy, innovation, and investment.