JAKARTA
\nThe Gulf Cooperation Council and Indonesia signed a deal on Wednesday to start long-awaited talks for a free trade agreement, which the Indonesian government expects to increase the country\u2019s commercial presence in the Middle East.
\nIndonesia already has a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with one GCC member, the UAE, its first with a Gulf nation.
\nAfter the pact entered into force last September, Indonesian officials have been working to enhance trade ties with other members of the group \u2014 Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE.
\nThe agreement to start the talks was signed in Jakarta by GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi and Indonesia\u2019s Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan.
\n\u201cThis is historic. GCC comprises countries with strong economy, high purchasing power. We have relations that go way back, but our trade is small,\u201d Hasan told reporters.
\n\u201cHopefully, we will conclude negotiations in two years. This is just the launch, so it\u2019s going to be a marathon and we will start negotiating in September \u2026 It\u2019s been years since we first started proposing an agreement, but it\u2019s only today that we are launching the talks.\u201d
\nThe first round of talks is planned to take place in September, he said.
\nIndonesia\u2019s trade with GCC countries was valued at around $15.7 billion last year, with its main export commodities including palm oil, coffee, jewelry and motor vehicles.
\nA free trade agreement with the group is expected to help Indonesia expand its ties with the region, which have traditionally revolved around domestic workers, and Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
\n\u201cThere have been many trade barriers,\u201d Hasan said. \u201cWe want to send doctors, but we have different standards. We want to send seafood, but our health standards are not the same, so it\u2019s been very hard because we don\u2019t have any agreement regarding trade.\u201d Al-Budaiwi told reporters in Jakarta that the Gulf countries are also interested in greater cooperation with Indonesia.
\n\u201cTrade with Indonesia is multifaceted and very developed. The most important thing from our meeting today is that we want to open up new sectors,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are certain that this launch will pave the way to increase the trade volume even further.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAKARTA The Gulf Cooperation Council and Indonesia signed a deal on Wednesday to start long-awaited talks for a free trade agreement, which the Indonesian government expects to increase the country\u2019s commercial presence in the Middle East. Indonesia already has a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with one GCC member, the UAE, its first with a Gulf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n