Indonesia Economy Forum

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PT Inalum posts net profit of Rp1.5 trillion last year
Minggu, 27 Mei 2018 09:17 WIB - 0 Views

Reporter: antara

Inalum (id.wikipedia.org)

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - State-owned aluminum producer, PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), posted a net profit of Rp1.5 trillion last year, or 60 percent higher than the target of Rp0.9 trillion set in its 2017 business plan.

"Of course, it is quite encouraging. We hope it will increase in the future," PT Inalum Business Development Director, Oggy Achmad Kosasih, said here on Saturday.

Last year, PT Inalum produced 215,192 of aluminum ingots and 3,625 tons of billet and alloy.

Just in the first four quarters of 2018, Inalum produced 73,315 tons of aluminum ingots, or 41.3 percent of the target of 177,620 tons for 2018, and 5,372 tons of billet and alloy, or 9.3 percent of the target of 57,470 tons for 2018.

PT. Inalum sold 205,980 tons of aluminum ingot and 1,296 tons of billet and alloy last year. Meanwhile, in the January-April 2018 period, aluminum ingot sale reached 58,661 tons, or 33 percent of the target of 177,620 tons, and billet and alloy sale stood at 3,706 tons, or 6.4 percent of the target of 57,470 tons for 2018.

Since November 27, 2017, PT. Inalum has become a mining holding company, comprising state mining firm PT. Antam Tbk, state coal mining firm PT. Bukit Asam Tbk, and state tin mining firm PT. Timah Tbk. PT Inalum also holds a 9.36 percent stake in gold and copper mining firm PT. Freeport Indonesia.

Reported by Juraidi
EDITED BY INE
(T.S012/A/KR-BSR/S012)
Editor: Heru Purwanto

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018

 

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Palembang Metro Train Trial Test

 

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Exports to the EU

Indonesia is preparing for a worst-case scenario should the European Parliament's draft of a ban on the use of palm oil in biofuels get approved by the European Commission and European Council.(Antara Photo/Reno Esnir)


By Adinda Normala on 5:31 am May 26, 2018
Category Business , Featured , Trade
Jakarta. Indonesia is preparing for a worst-case scenario should the European Parliament's draft of a ban on the use of palm oil in biofuels get approved by the European Commission and European Council.

In January, members of the European Parliament voted in favor to phase out the use of biofuels made from palm oil by 2021 to fulfill the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, which aims to reach a renewable energy target of 27 percent by 2030, including in transport fuels.

A decision on whether the ban will be legally imposed in all EU country members will be made in 2019. If approved, Indonesia and Malaysia, who together produce nearly 90 percent of the world’s palm oil, will suffer a hard blow.

"There’s an [ongoing] study about stopping exports to the European Union altogether. When it’s done, Indonesia can see that palm oil trade with them is risky. The study is to eradicate that risk once and for all," Mahendra Siregar, executive director of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries, said in a discussion hosted by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) on Friday (25/05).

The council has commissioned several research institutions and universities to help produce its research, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year at the latest.

Palm oil is a key source of revenue for Indonesia — the world’s biggest palm oil producer — accounting for about 14 percent of the country's total exports.

The EU is the second largest export market for Indonesian palm oil, importing around 5 million tons of the key Nutella ingredient each year. According to Ministry of Trade data, the EU has always been in the top two destinations for palm oil, along with India, since the 1990s.

Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, deputy minister of coordinating maritime sovereignty at the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs, said the EU must address trade barriers that discriminate against palm oil for the matter to be solved quickly.

"Our goal is not to force the European Union to use palm oil, but we demand fair treatment for palm oil with other vegetable oils," Purbaya said, adding that the EU now seems to solely target palm oil.

"If the European Union has shown that they are not discriminatory towards palm oil, then we will gladly comply to their policy," he said.

The EU has insisted that it has no intention of building trade barriers against Indonesian palm oil and will address all drivers of deforestation, including soy, cocoa and coffee, but it has so far only proposed to ban palm oil imports.

"The way I see it there is a [business] competition as they [EU country members] produce rapeseed oil which is expensive, while our palm oil is cheaper," Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita told reporters last month.

According to a study by the Malaysia Palm Oil Council, oil palms occupy 9.2 million hectares of agricultural land and produces 31.8 percent of global oils, while soybean and rapeseed crops require 10 times this amount of land to produce similar yields.

"This is an unhealthy competition … If it [palm oil] is disturbed, then we will also disturb the EU," Enggartiasto said, adding that the ministry plans to ban fisheries from the EU if the draft is approved.

Deforestation

Vincent Guerend, EU Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, however, said the union is considering to progressively replace food-based biofuels by more advanced ones, such as electricity, to prevent land-use changes affecting peatlands and tree cover.

"The EU was the one to promote biofuel as renewable over 10 years ago. But because EU is such a big market, it has some very strong pull effects—negative effects to be exact," Vincent said.

According to Vincent, food prices are rising due to increasing land use for palm plantation that reduces available land for food crops. The expansion also contributes to deforestation, threatening species including elephants and orangutans.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that land used for palm plantation rose from only 4 million hectares in 2000 to 11.9 million hectares in 2017. That figure is predicted to increase to 13 million hectares by 2020.

A research study by the European Commission also shows that greenhouse gas emissions from biodiesel are more than three times higher than those from conventional diesel engines, when indirect effects are considered.

New Markets

Indonesia shipped out the highest value of palm oil ever in 2017, contributing to the year’s $12 billion trade surplus.

According to BPS, palm oil exports and its derivative products reached $23 billion, up 26 percent from $18 billion in the previous year. The increase was in line with higher sales in non-traditional markets, according to a report by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) released in January.

The export volume of palm oil to Africa countries jumped nearly 50 percent to 2.3 million tons in 2017 from 1.5 million, while exports to Middle Eastern countries also increased by 7 percent to 2.1 million tons from 1.9 million, the report showed.

China — facing a threat of declining edible oil supply in trade wars with the United States — has also promised to increase palm oil imports from Indonesia by up to 500,000 tons per year. China bought 3.73 million tons of Indonesian CPO last year, from 3.23 million tons in 2016.

"When we talk about the importance and significance of the EU on palm oil, this is the reality, which means the worst scenario can lead to a situation that palm oil can live without the EU. The question is of course whether the EU can live without palm oil," Mahendra said.
http://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-considers-stopping-palm-oil-exports-to-the-european-union/

 

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Indonesia Improves in Getting Private Money for Infrastructure
The Jakarta-Cikampek II Elevated Toll Road is funded under a PPP scheme. (Antara Photo/Risky Andrianto)

By : Amal Ganesha | on 2:42 PM May 28, 2018
Category : Business, Economy, Analysis, Featured, Indonomics
Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo must have felt relieved and proud when the presidential airplane touched down at Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java, to inaugurate its service last week.

The president can now showcase the airport as a successful and punctual public-private partnership (PPP) for infrastructure development.

Initiated by the provincial government of West Java in 2009, the $800 million airport project was initially marred by land-clearing and financing problems. In 2015, Jokowi decided to step in with a state fund for the airport's runway, taxiway and air navigation system.

The move allowed Bandarudara Internasional Jawa Barat (BIJB), a state-owned enterprise, to concentrate on developing the terminals.

Since then the project has become more attractive to investors, who saw a much lower risk. A syndicate of local Islamic banks injected $68 million into the airport last year. And soon BIJB will sell multimillion-dollar asset-backed mutual funds to investors.

"The Kertajati airport is an example of successful cooperation between the central government, provincial government and the private sector. We will replicate this business model in other regions to accelerate development," Jokowi told reporters on the airport's taxiway on Thursday (24/05).

Second Best

Indonesia was second after China in terms of attracting private funds to infrastructure projects last year, according to the World Bank's Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) report released in April.

It showed Indonesia attracted $15.4 billion to 11 projects. Of that amount, about $6 billion alone was used to build the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, which is in 60 percent funded by a consortium of Indonesian state-owned companies and in 40 percent by Chinese enterprise China Railway Construction Corp.

Among 304 projects considered in the report, 58 percent of the world's PPI was in China, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil and Pakistan, amounting to $93.3 billion, a 37 percent increase from 2016.

Indonesia's infrastructure push started under President Jokowi, who in 2015 said that more than $400 billion will be spent to accomplish 247 national strategic projects by 2019. Since 2014, when he took office, 30 of the projects, worth Rp 94.8 trillion ($6.7 billion) have been completed.

Stronger Mechanism

Since its implementation in the 1990s, private participation has been limited to the sectors of transportation and energy infrastructure. Having realized that the state budget simply cannot bear the costs of its infrastructure projects, the government has broadened the scope of public-private partnerships. Health care, telecommunications and water treatment projects have also been included.

A 2015 presidential regulation, which expanded these financing possibilities, also set up a guarantee mechanism to fix the rate of return for investors in such projects. It also established Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI) to help channel private funds into ready-to-built projects, and Penjaminan Infrastruktur Indonesia to provide guarantees for investors.

"Over the past few years, the Indonesian government has considerably strengthened the legal and institutional frameworks for PPPs," ADB country director for Indonesia, Winfried Wicklein, told the Jakarta Globe in an email last week.

"By improving the quality of project preparation, ensuring competitive, fair and transparent procurement processes, and complying with obligations under existing long-term PPP contracts, Indonesia can deepen private sector interest in its PPP program," he said.

There are 12 ongoing PPP infrastructure projects, including the Jakarta-Cikampek II Elevated Toll Road.

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) said that in 2018 there will be at least 15 new public-private projects, including the $1 billion, 71-kilometer Yogyakarta-Bawen Toll Road.

Of these 15, only the $34-billion West Semarang Water Supply has been tendered, the rest are still being prepared.

Benefits, Costs

The most common form of public-private partnership is called "build, operate, transfer." With this model, a public facility is built and operated by a private enterprise for a longer time, after which its ownership returns to the government.

With this scheme, the government can refrain from taking in more loans or save the money for social programs.

"However, when a toll road is built under a PPP scheme, it means the private operator would charge higher prices [to obtain profit]. When this happens, people may have to bear the higher price, which also means lower social benefits of the projects," said Ahmad Mikail, an economist at Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia.

The government should take this into consideration.

"Whether a PPP has gone effectively is when people are satisfied with the facility built under the scheme," Ferdinand Pecson, head of PPP Center of the Philippines, told the Jakarta Globe earlier this month.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Bank Indonesia Raises Key Interest Rate in Unscheduled Meeting
30 May 2018 |
In line with expectations the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) raised its benchmark interest rate - the BI seven-day reverse repo rate - by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent in an unscheduled meeting on Wednesday (30/05). In combination with the scheduled monthly policy meeting on 16-17 May 2018, Bank Indonesia raised the benchmark interest rate by a total of 0.50 percent this month.

This decision came only a few days after the inauguration of new Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo. And it shows that the new governor does not want to wait before a Federal Reserve decision at the June FOMC meeting (12-13 June 2018) before adjusting Bank Indonesia's monetary policy. It is widely expected that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate again at this policy meeting. Such expectations lead to capital outflows from emerging market economies, including Indonesia. The latest Bank Indonesia decision to raise its benchmark before the Fed releases any official decision shows that Warjiyo wants to be ahead of the curve.

After Bank Indonesia announced the unscheduled policy meeting on Monday (28/05) - during office hours and not as usual after markets closed - the rupiah and Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index immediately strengthened significantly as the market seemed confident that the meeting would imply a rate hike.

Meanwhile, the deposit facility and lending facility were also raised by 25 bps to 4.00 percent and 5.50 percent, respectively (effective per 31 May 2018).

In a statement that was released on the official website of Bank Indonesia it was written that rupiah stability was the key reason for the latest interest rate hike. Besides the rate hike, Bank Indonesia also emphasized that it will continue to optimize its dual intervention policy in the foreign exchange and bonds markets to safeguard plenty of liquidity amid the high degree of volatility at the moment.
______________________________________________

tl,dr:
On Public-Private Partnerships: Through simple accumulation of experience, Indonesia has managed to create better PPP offers, generating larger private interest. In 2017, Indonesia attracted the second largest private funding amount for infrastructure development globally after China. This comes as relieving news after fears that low private participation in the infrastructure drive could lead in burgeoning government debt. Experts welcome the improvement but caution that PPPs that favour private interests too much will result in harming long-term public interests.

On BI rate Hike: After years of prioritising economic stability over economic growth, the hike in interest rates so soon after the new inauguration of BI Gov. Perry Warjiyo signals that the central bank is committing to strong and hopefully decisive action in order to counteract a weakening rupiah and stimulate better economic growth, especially in light of the scheduled meeting in June where another rate hike is expected. Despite that, the central bank states that is well aware of the risks of intervening during high volatility and is moving to safeguard liquidity of funds in the markets as well.

 

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[Nike]

View attachment 477953

Soon we will see them roaming in Jakarta, Bekasi and near the area...

 

[pr1v4t33r]

Soon we will see them roaming in Jakarta, Bekasi and near the area...

yup, if i remember correctly, JABODEBEK route will be using INKA built LRT trains. They won't be ready until 2019 though..

 

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Frozen meats from india to enter North Sulawesi`s market
Senin, 4 Juni 2018 17:08 WIB - 1 Views

Reporter: Nancy Lynda Tigauw

Imported meats (ANTARA FOTO/Muhammad Iqbal/16)

Manado, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - North Sulawesi`s State Logistic Office has urged the authority in Jakarta to supply frozen meats imported from India to the province`s market ahead of the Eid holiday 2018.

"This is the headquarter`s policy to offer options to the people ahead of Eid," Head of North Sulawesi`s State Logistic Office Eko Pranoto noted here on Monday.

For the first phase, the logistic office plans to distribute six tons of Indian meats priced at Rp80 thousand, or around US$6 per kilogram.

The imported meats will be stocked as a precautionary measure to handle higher demand during Ramadan, particularly in the last three days before Eid, according to Head of North Sulawesi`s Trade Office Jenny Karouw.

Karouw remarked that based on previous years, the demand would increase up to 100 percent compared to the normal sales.

For instance, Karouw noted that eight to 13 cows were butchered daily at the local farmer market Bersehati Manado, while during Eid season last year, the number increased to 46 cows per day.

"We need to take precautionary measure to handle this matter, and we will continue to work with related offices," she noted.

The Trade Office has also supported the State Logistic Office to supply frozen meats from Java.

At present, meats are sold at Rp115 thousand, or around $8 per kilogram, according to North Sulawesi`s Trade Center.



Editor: Bustanuddin

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018

Downstream palm oil industry growing
Minggu, 3 Juni 2018 21:14 WIB - 2 Views

Reporter: A Saragih

Palm oil fresh fruit bunches (ANTARA PHOTO/Rahmad)

Jakarta,(ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Federation of Vegetable oil Industries (GIMNI) said the country`s downstream palm oil industry grew positively including in vegetable oil, oleochemiacl and biodiesel industries.

Executive Director of GIMNI Sahat Sinaga said there are a number of factors supporting the growth of downstream palm oil industry including a cut in the import tax on biodiesel by the European Union, active trade diplomacy launched by the government, retaliation by the U.S. government again a number of countries including China, Mexico, and the European Union (EU) and the dollar appreciation .

"These factors have brought in fresh air for palm oil trade in global market," Sahat said a gathering between the media people the Association of Downstream Palm Oil Industries grouped in the Federation of Vegetable Oil Industries (GIMNI), Indonesian Association of Biofuel Producers (APROBI), Indonesian Association of Oleochemical Producers (APOLIN).

Meanwhile, General Chairman of APOLIN Rapolo Hutabarat, predicted that the country`s oleochemical exports would grow 22 percent to 4.4 million tons, from 3.6 million tons last year.

Increase in oleochemical exports followed growing global consumption of oleochemicals for the cosmetics industry, tire industry and oil drilling industry and other manufacturing industries.

Export grew with the new investment by oleochemical producers like PT Energi Sejahtera Mas and Unilever, he said.

In 2017, the country`s exports of oleochemicals were valued at US$3.3 billion in 2017.

This year, exports are expected to rise to US$3.6 billion. In the first quarter of this year oleochemical exports totaled 1.1 million tons valued at US$915 million.

Sahat said cooking oil will no longer sold in bulk, adding, the process of transition from bulk to bottling is expected to be wrapped up in 2019.

"In 2020, there is no more cooking oil sold in bulk," he said.

In 2018, domestic consumption of cooking oil is predicted to reach 12.759 million tons , up from 11.056 million tons in 2017.

Most of palm-oil consumption in the country is for food -- 8.414 million tons for food and specialty fats; 845,000 tons for oleochemical and soap noodle, and 3.5 million tons for biodiesel.

Paulus Tjakrawan, the chairman of APROBI, said biodiesel consumption in the country this year is predicted to rise 500,000 tons.

The prediction would be a reality if the use of non subsidized biodiesel is as expected including in the use of biodiesel in mixture with diesel oil to fuel locomotives and mining heavy equipment.

"If B-20 is used for railways, domestic consumption of biodiesel could increase by 200,000 to 500,000 kiloliters," Paulus said.

B-20 (a mixture of biodiesel 20 percent in diesel oil) has been used to fuel the locomotive of the train of the state-owned railway company (PT KAI) serving the Palembang-Lampung track .

Head of the unit of Locomotive Depot of Tanjung Enim Batu Nurdin said there was no problem in the locomotive of the railway after using B20 fuel in the operation in the last three months.

There was no difference in the performance of the engine when using B20 from when it used 100 percent diesel oil, Nurdin told reporters and a monitoring team from the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry .

He said based on the checking of the locomotive, there should be no problem using B20 fuel in the operation of the Palembang unit of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

Based on the CO emission test, B20 is more environmentally friendly than pure diesel oil.

With this encouraging development , B20 could be permanently used for the locomotives of PT KAI, he said, adding, Indonesia would be the first to use B20 fuel for locomotives.

Paulus also said the decision of WTO which favored Indonesia against the EU anti dumping policy is great victory for Indonesian palm oil industry.

In addition the European Commissioner has sent a signal that it would not back up the palm oil resolution of the European Parliament, prompting a number of Indonesian biodiesel producers to start studying exports of that commodity to Europe after exports had to stop in the past several years.

"It is predicted that Indonesia`s biodiesel exports to Europe would reach 500,000 kiloliters this year," he said.

The country has also exported biodiesel to other countries but small in volume, he added. (AS/A014)









(T.SYS/A/H-ASG/A014) 03-06-2018 18:58:30
Editor: Suharto

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018

 

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Trial run of the 1st Jakarta MRT' trainset

 

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PLN operates Bengkayang steam power plant
Selasa, 5 Juni 2018 15:01 WIB - 2 Views

Reporter: Martha Herlinawati S

Pontianak, W Kalimantan, (ANTARA News) - State-owned electricity company PLN for Singkawang area started to operate a steam power plant (PLTU) located in Tanjung Gundul, Sungai Raya Kepulauan sub-district, Bengkayang district, West Kalimantan province.

Kalimantan Regional Business Director Machnizon Masri said the operation of several projects in Kalimantan aimed to improve power supplies during the holy month of Ramadhan and Eid Al-Fitr.

"Once we have successfully connected the transmission network interconnection in the provinces of South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. Now, PLN operates one more PLTU in West Kalimantan," he said on Tuesday.

Bengkayang power plant was included in the government`s second fast track program and its development has started in July 2013 with a total investment value of more than Rp1.3 trillion.

"Thank God, we can realize our vision to make Kalimantan brights in Ramadhan," he said.

The operation of the Bengkayang PLTU is planned to add 50 Mega-Watt power supply to Equator System.

On the same occasion, Singkawang Mayor Tjhai Chui Mie appreciated the PLN`s efforts to meet the electricity needs, especially in Singkawang.

"As a developing business city, we invite many investors to invest here," he said.

He was optimistic that the availability of electricity would also encourage the growth of investment in the area.




Editor: Otniel Tamindael

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018

https://m.antaranews.com/en/news/116022/pln-operates-bengkayang-steam-power-plant

 

[Nike]

How to Give Rural Indonesia Light?
In many rural areas of Indonesia, the electrification rate is below 50 percent. (Antara Photo/Mohamad Hamzah)


By Andre Woolgar on 4:00 pm Jun 03, 2018
Category Business , Economy
Jakarta. The government's ambition to provide electricity to all Indonesians faces the biggest challenges in rural areas, where difficult terrain and lack of infrastructure hinder the national utility company from extending the power grid.

Today, 95 percent of the country's households are electrified, close to the government's Indonesia Terang (Bright Indonesia) program's target of 97 percent by the end of 2019.

But still, remote and not easily accessible regions remain in the dark. Papua, where most of the villages can be reached only by bush planes, has only 49 percent of its households connected to the grid. The electrification rate in East Nusa Tenggara is also low — 59 percent. In Central Kalimantan it is slightly higher, at 76 percent.

It is uneconomical for cash-strapped state power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to build plants to power only some 100 homes. Those who install power generators in villages also face uncertain investment return.

"Don't worry about technology. The biggest problem is … where is the money coming from? Via investment, or grant or blended funding? How is that money going to be paid back?" Andre Susanto, founder of Inovasi Dinamika Pratama, a consulting company for renewable energy projects in Southeast Asia, said in a discussion last week.

PLN invests about $10 billion a year on power generation and distribution, with a monopoly on the latter. Drowning in debts, however, it has to spend almost double of that amount for interest payment.

According to Andre, to support the country's electrification, grantors such as the Green Climate Fund can be used to finance renewable energy projects in Indonesia's remote rural areas, involving local communities for sustainability. His team provides technical assistance, feasibility studies and training for such projects, to make sure they also serve to empower the communities and involve women.

The benefits from electrification are immediate.

Veronika Sri Setiawati, executive director of Yayasan Suluh Insan Lestari, an educational NGO working with communities living on the banks of the Baliem River in Papua, observed how greatly electricity opens access to education. The solar panels that have recently been installed in the area provide light for children to learn and do their homework.

"If there is light, they can study ... Education offers further enlightenment, for the future to be brighter," she said.

http://jakartaglobe.id/economy/give-rural-indonesia-light/

 

[UMNOPutra]

Malaysia takes over China’s position as largest tourist contributor

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...-position-as-largest-tourist-contributor.htmlhttp://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...-position-as-largest-tourist-contributor.html

 

[Logam42]

Malaysia takes over China’s position as largest tourist contributor

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...-position-as-largest-tourist-contributor.htmlhttp://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...-position-as-largest-tourist-contributor.html

This is great news!

As of 2017, Indonesia is ran a 699.1 million USD trade surplus with Malaysia, the fact that malaysian are also spending their hard-earned cash in Indonesian hotels and businesses means that it will help to improve our economy, and fund jobs for Indonesians. A tourism growth of 25% in a year from Malaysia is wonderful, considering that the average is 9%.

Furthermore, Malaysian tourism is also much less controversial than Chinese tourism, at least this way there will be less brouhaha about Chinese influence and whatnot.

Thanks for posting this, usually you just try to troll. Glad you are breaking the habit.

 

[Nike]

Indonesia, Mozambique begin talks on trade deal
Selasa, 5 Juni 2018 22:46 WIB - 2 Views

Reporter: Vicki Febrianto

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Mozambique has started their first-ever negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) following a joint commitment reached during the Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) in April this year.

Indonesia`s bilateral trade negotiation director in the Trade Ministry, Ni Made Ayu Marhini, said the first round took place in Maputo on May 31 and June 1. Most articles had been agreed on by the two countries.

"Our counterparts in Mozambique had welcomed our proposals on the agreement. As a result, the two parties have completed most articles of the PTA`s draft," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The Mozambique delegation was led by the national external trade director, Amilcar Arone.

Marhini, who led the Indonesian delegation, said that when the negotiations were completed by the year-end, Indonesia would have its first PTA with an African nation. "After the IAF in Bali, we (the two countries) are committed to establish the PTA," she added.

Besides, the President, Joko Widodo, had instructed the Trade Ministry to expand business to non-traditional markets to increase exports.

The PTA, Marhini said, was aimed at easing tariffs on products of both countries. Mozambique, she noted, was a potential hub in Africa for Indonesia`s exports. Marhini said there was potential for more collaboration between the two countries, including in raw materials.

The total trade of Indonesia and Mozambique in the 2013-2017 period declined by 23.75 per cent. Indonesia`s trade balance with Mozambique remains positive.

The total trade between the two countries increased by 82.2 per cent from US$ 44.5 million in 2016 to US$ 54.1 million in 2017.

Indonesian products that can be exported to Mozambique include soap, palm oil, cement, margarine and paper. Indonesia can import nuts, ferro-alloys, raw tobacco and cotton from Mozambique.




Editor: Yosep Hariyadi

COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2018