The president of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen and the Indonesian President Prabowo Suubianto announced on Sunday a “political agreement” to finalize a free trade agreement expected for a long time, because the American president Donald Trump disrupts world trade with radical tariff threats.“We live at the turbulent time and when economic uncertainty encountered geopolitical volatility, partners as we must get closer. So, today, we take a big step forward in this partnership,” Von Der Leyen told journalists in Brussels.“I am very happy to point out that we have just concluded a political agreement on an ambitious free trade agreement.”The talks between the European Union and Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, have been continuing since 2016. The agreement should increase trade flows and investment between the two regions.In a statement, the European Commission described Sunday’s development as a “decisive step” to the finalization of the agreement. He will be officially concluded in September by the EU trade chief, Maros Sefcovic and the Minister of the Economy of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto, reported AFP.“There is a lot of unexploited potential in our commercial relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,” said Von Der Leyen.“It will create more opportunities in key industries, commercial activity and agriculture, automobile and services.”Brussels has advanced efforts to deepen links with strategic partners worldwide, especially when Trump threatens to trigger a trade war.“This important and important political agreement on the free trade agreement with Indonesia is today a huge advantage and shows that we are looking for new markets, open markets,” added Von Der Leyen.President Prabowo praised the announcement in Brussels as a “breakthrough”.“After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a complete economic partnership agreement, which is essentially a free trade agreement,” he said.The Indonesian chief stressed: “We consider that Europe is always a very important factor, and we would like to see a very strong Europe.”But he also pointed out that “the United States will always be a very important leader in the world”.The EU is currently Indonesia’s fifth trading partner, bilateral trade reaching $ 30.1 billion last year.Relations between the two had been tense in recent years due to an EU importation ban on goods related to deforestation, a decision that has made Indonesia, a large producer of palm oil. This legislation has now been pushed at the end of the year.
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