The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemendag) has officially resumed negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and Peru after a delay since 2017. Reporting from IDN Financials, Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of Peru Ana Cecilia Gervasi Díaz held a special meeting to immediately start communicating and synergizing together so that trade negotiations between Indonesia and Peru can be carried out immediately. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the APEC 28th Minister Responsible For Trade (MRT) series of meetings held from 21 to 22 May 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi revealed that the Indonesia-Peru CEPA negotiations had been delayed for 5 years due to the approach used for negotiations in 2017, when the Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism invited Indonesia to start the cooperation at the end of 2017 after the United States resigned from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The steps taken by the Peruvian government are considered quite aggressive in the context of developing a cooperation plan in free trade with Indonesia.
The United States' withdrawal from the TPP on Monday (23/1/2017) strained their relations with their Asian allies with close ties to China. At that time, Peru had established free trade agreements with 15 countries with China as one of the countries that began to establish diplomatic relations. Negotiations for trade cooperation between Indonesia and Peru were delayed after the incident, but then managed to re-establish five years later in the middle of 2022.
The leaders of the two countries observed enormous potential that could provide positive benefits in the trade sector of both parties with the superior commodities owned by each country. The main commodities that Indonesia offers to Peru include motor vehicles, biodiesel, unused postage stamps, footwear, and yarn fibers. Meanwhile, Peru will be actively exporting cocoa beans, fertilizers, wine, coal, and raw zinc to Indonesia. In order to accelerate the establishment of a mutually beneficial cooperation agreement, they increased their pace to finalize the framework of their agreement.
In the first quarter of 2022, the total profit obtained by Indonesia and Peru in their trade sector was US$ 99 million, an increase of 18.84% compared to the first quarter of last year which was still around US$ 83.30 million. Meanwhile, throughout 2021, the total profit from the Indonesia-Peru sector was recorded at US$ 402.70 million, an increase of 61.8% compared to 2020 which was recorded at US$ 248.82 million. International trade activities with Peru managed to generate a surplus of US$ 234.21 million for Indonesia in 2021, an increase of 142% compared to 2020.
