Trade and travel top Indonesia’s priorities
The Age, Melbourne
Trade and travel top Indonesia’s priorities
By Tim Colebatch
11 August 2006
A free trade agreement between Australia and Indonesia is back on the table, after business leaders from both countries lobbied for an initiative to stimulate trade and investment between them.
Indonesia’s Trade Minister, Mari Pangestu, who floated the idea last year, said she and Trade Minister Mark Vaile would now consider setting up a scoping study to explore the costs and benefits of a bilateral free trade agreement.
While Australia and Indonesia are already involved in free trade negotiations through the slow-moving talks to negotiate free trade between Australia, New Zealand and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, Dr Pangestu indicated that a bilateral agreement could go further in removing barriers to investment and trade in services than is likely under ASEAN’s approach.
She said this could include making it easier for qualified Indonesians to work in Australia in areas suffering skills shortages, such as nursing and welding. "We need to figure out ways to build capacity, and train nurses to qualify for certification here", she said.
Dr Pangestu, a Chinese-Indonesian who spent most of her childhood in Canberra, was back in her former home town for talks with Mr Vaile on bilateral, regional and multilateral trade issues, including the crisis-ridden Doha Round.
As an economist she supports free trade. As a minister she leads the G33 group of developing countries who want to exclude 20 per cent of their agricultural tariff lines from any liberalisation, on the grounds of protecting subsistence farmers and food security - a claim strongly opposed by Mr Vaile, as leader of the Cairns Group of nations.
Dr Pangestu said the two ministers met with business leaders from both countries, who joined her in urging Australia to lift its travel advisory, which lists Indonesia along with Israel, Sudan, Syria and Pakistan as destinations where Australians "should reconsider their need to travel". While many Australians had ignored the warnings until the second Bali bombing last October, Dr Pangestu said it ruled out group travel because of insurance costs, and deterred companies from taking advantage of business investments opportunities in Indonesia. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has pledged to reconsider the advisory.
In a wide-ranging media conference, Dr Pangestu also:
■ Challenged Japan’s proposal for a 16-nation East Asian free trade zone, saying ASEAN prefers to make individual deals with its trading partners.
■ Urged APEC to narrow its focus to promoting trade facilitation, such as common customs rules and technical co-operation.
■ Said Indonesia was now tackling corruption, with 80 former ministers and officials facing trial on corruption charges.
