VIVAnews - The urge of composing a free trade agreement between the Indonesian government and the Australian and New Zealand governments was apparently triggered by the concern about Chinese products domination.
Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu, Primo Alui Joelianto, explained that along with the commencement of free trade era, Indonesian products are competing tightly with Chinese products.
“Our competitors in Australia are China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the US, Japan, Germany, England and New Zealand. But, our main competitor is China,” Joelianto said while attending the 2009 Indonesia Trade Expo in Kemayoran on Wednesday, October 28.
Indonesia is ranked 12th in the list of Australia’s trading partner while Malaysia and Singapore fill the 5th and 7th positions respectively. “There are only 21 million Australian residents. So, it’s hard to compete with such numerous competitors,” Joelianto said.
Therefore, he added, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) needs to be implemented in order to survive the competition. “That’s because China and Singapore already had their own FTA with Australia,“ he said.
Indonesia’s major exported products to Australia include shrimps, coffee, palm oil, cacao, rubber, textile, shoes, electronics, spare parts, leather, art crafts, processed food and spices.
However, Indonesian Consulate General for Sydney, Sudaryomo Hartosudarmo, said quarantine is still becoming a crucial issue in the trade between Indonesia and Australia.
“There was one time when at least three containers of Kara coconut milk were quarantined for a month,” “he said.
Australia’s investment in Indonesia in May 2009 reached US$ 490 million when there were 400 Australian companies in Indonesia that included mining, finance, banking, food and beverages and transportation companies.
In tourism sector, Australian tourists increased 26 percent in August 2009 compared to the same period last year. “Tourists from Australia topped the list by outnumbering Japanese tourists. The increase even occurred when the travel warning was issued by the Australian government,“ Hartosudarmo said.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
