SIGNing The Jasa Trade Agreement With Chile, Zulhas Targets Transaction Values Of Up To 1 Billion US Dollars

Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) and Deputy Minister of International Economic Relations Chilegal Miguel Ahumada signed the Services Trading Protocol in the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the Government of Indonesia and Chile today, Monday, November 21.

This protocol is a legal instrument for Jasa Trade Agreement in the approval of the IC-CEPA which has been implemented since 2019.

Zulhas in his speech said that Chile has great potential for Indonesia to market goods and services because Chile is a country that has superior human resources and is one of the developed countries among Latin American countries.

"In the past, we had made an agreement with Chile and our trade growth was almost half a billion dollars. I think in the next 3 to 4 years we can make 1 billion US dollars," he said in his remarks, Monday, November 21.

He added, in this agreement, Chile and Indonesia opened wide enough opportunities for the architectural services sector, engineering services, telecommunication services, distribution services, and tourism services.

Zulhas emphasized that Indonesia is optimistic that the IC-CEPA Services Trade Agreement will increase the trust between the two countries to trade even more, especially for Indonesian business actors who will be more enthusiastic about utilizing the potential for trade in services with Chile.

The IC-CEPA Services Trade Agreement was successfully agreed upon after being delayed due to an increase in cases of the Covid-19 pandemic in the two countries.

Furthermore, Indonesia and Chile will immediately begin the ratification process until implementation according to their respective domestic procedures.

"This agreement is expected to encourage synergy in expanding market access and strengthening post-COVID-19 economic recovery for Indonesia and Chile. IC-CEPA is the first bilateral trade agreement that Indonesia has with Latin American countries. Cooperation between the two countries must continue to be strengthened and maintained," Zulhas continued.

He hopes that with this collaboration Chile can later become a hub for Indonesia to expand its business to other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

"If Chile can be used as a hub for expansion, the potential is very large because Latin America has money and they can pay for Indonesian goods and services," he concluded.