Airlangga Calls I-EAEU FTA as a New Milestone for Indonesia in Europe

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that Indonesia has officially signed a free trade agreement with the Eurasian region through the Indonesia-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (I-EAEU FTA).

The signing of the agreement was carried out by Trade Minister Budi Santoso during his visit to Russia on Sunday, December 21.

"It's a new milestone in Europe," Airlangga said at a press conference, on Friday, December 26.

Airlangga explained that previously Indonesia had entered into a number of trade agreements with other European countries and regions, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union or IEU-CEPA, as well as cooperation with Switzerland and surrounding countries through Indonesia-EFTA CEPA (IE-CEPA).

According to him, the I-EAEU FTA agreement is good news for strengthening Indonesia's trade relations with European countries.

He called this agreement one of the important achievements this year, where most of Indonesia's trade cooperation has been realized, while the rest is still in the completion phase.

"This is a milestone this year, almost all countries are working with Indonesia, others are still in the process," said Airlangga.

Meanwhile, Trade Minister Budi Santoso said that the signing of the agreement had been completed and the government was now focusing on accelerating implementation.

He emphasized that Indonesia and its partners in the Eurasian region agreed to immediately follow up on the agreement.

Budi added that the initial step taken was the formation of a business council, including plans to establish an Indonesia-EAEU Business Council, to facilitate communication and cooperation between Indonesian business actors and trading partners in Eurasian countries.

"All preparations have been made even though the agreement has not been fully implemented. Currently, each party has started to look for business partners," he explained.

In addition, he said the government also prepared the organization of a business forum which would be initiated online and involve the EAEU region as well as the European Union.

"For this reason, we have worked together with APINDO and KADIN because the implementation of the business forum physically takes time, we utilize trade representatives and ITPC in European countries. In the European Union which has 27 member countries, Indonesia has 12 representatives who will be maximized to support the implementation of the business forum, including with the EAEU," he explained.

For information, the I-EAEU FTA agreement was signed on December 21, 2025 with five member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia, at the EAEU Summit attended by heads of state, including the President of Russia.

Budi added that with the signing, the process of the agreement was declared complete and only awaited the ratification and implementation stages.

"We do not wait for the ratification to be completed to start moving, but it has already begun with the formation of a business council and the holding of a business forum," he said.

To note, this area is one of the important export and import destinations for Indonesia and in 2024, Indonesia's trade value with the Eurasian Economic Union was recorded at US$ 4.52 billion, with exports of US$ 1.89 billion and imports worth US$ 2.63 billion.