The Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, believes that the EU-CEPA can be a way to increase fruit exports to Europe. Europe itself is one of the major markets for tropical fruit such as pineapples, bananas and mangosteen. With the tariff cutting facility initiated through the EU-CEPA, it is hoped that the price of tropical fruit from Indonesia can increasingly dominate the European market. This was conveyed when he received an audience of export fruit entrepreneurs. "Earlier, I got input that for now Indonesian fruit is in great demand in the European market. For pineapples alone, we control a market share of more than 25 percent in Europe. We can even win against our competitors such as the Philippines, which are not subject to import tariffs. Indonesia itself is actually subject to an import tariff of 14.9 percent. With the EU-CEPA, we can be the same as the Philippines, with zero import tariffs and surely we will dominate more markets in Europe, ”said Jerry, Wednesday (11/25/2020).
Based on these data, the Vice Minister of Trade is increasingly motivated to immediately complete the EU-CEPA negotiations. Not only fruit, the success of the negotiations will encourage Indonesian products and services to penetrate the European market more easily. Previously, the EU-CEPA was planned to be completed this year, but due to the pandemic several rounds of negotiations had to be temporarily delayed. According to the Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, the big market for Indonesian fruit is actually not only in the European Union but also in China, Japan and the Middle East. China needs an enormous amount of tropical fruit which entrepreneurs should seize on its opportunities. "China is relatively close to Indonesia compared to Europe. Currently they get more supply of tropical fruit from Central American countries such as Costarica. That is a very big opportunity for Indonesia. Moreover, now that there is RCEP, we will continue to encourage all entrepreneurs, including export fruit entrepreneurs, to take advantage of the facilitation of the RCEP results, "added Jerry.
Another potential market according to input from entrepreneurs is the Middle East, including Turkey and Iran. In Turkey, Indonesian fruit is still subject to a tariff of up to 48 percent. Meanwhile in Iran, Indonesian fruit cannot be traded directly because of the blockade mechanism implemented by the United States. Responding to this input, the Vice Minister of Trade will follow up by including input from entrepreneurs in the points of the IT-FTA and Indonesia-Iran FTA negotiations. "We are also in talks with Turkey and Iran. Both are very large markets. We hope we can solve it quickly so that our entrepreneurs can be helped, "said the Vice Minister of Trade.
Jerry is of the opinion that input from entrepreneurs is very important considering that they will be the spearhead and direct actors of the results of trade negotiations, both bilateral and multilateral. Therefore, he will always be open to receiving input from entrepreneurs about the real problems they experience. According to him, the ideal goal of trade negotiations is not only to solve the problem of tariff barriers, but also non-tariff barriers. "So, the ideal goal of trade negotiations is to create open and fair trade. So what is resolved is not only the issue of tariffs, but also of non-tariffs. " Jerry said. Many non-tariff barriers have been used as instruments to impede trade by various countries. There are various provisions regarding health, social and environmental issues that must be fulfilled. Trade negotiations aim to increase the capacity of Indonesian entrepreneurs to meet standards in the destination country. According to the Vice Minister of Trade, in the future this capacity building will be one of the priorities for the Ministry of Trade's assistance to export-oriented entrepreneurs.
