Neighbors Indonesia and Australia will resume talks about the Indonesia-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), a bilateral free trade agreement. The decision to resume negotiations in May 2016 was taken after Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong met Australian Trade and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo in Canberra on Wednesday (16/03). Previously, talks about the IA-CEPA were put on hold amid a period of severe diplomatic tensions between both nations involving the "2013 spy-scandal", the execution of two Australian citizens in, cattle trade, and the tough asylum-seeker policies of Australia.

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Indonesian Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said that the continuation of economic cooperation between Indonesia and Japan, as set out in the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA), is to be reviewed soon by both countries. Gobel met Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa in Tokyo today. In the IJEPA it was mentioned that cooperation between both countries can be reviewed after the bilateral free-trade agreement had been in effect for five years.

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Indonesia is eager to enhance trade relations with Europe through the establishment of the Indonesia-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Thomas Lembong, Indonesia's Trade Minister, said joining this free trade deal will modernize and improve Indonesia's existing trade regulations. Joining the Indonesia-EU CEPA is the current top priority of the Indonesian government in terms of free trade deals. It aims to have reached an agreement with the EU by late-2017. Afterwards, Indonesia will seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it also showed interest to join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

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