South Korea, Indonesia conclude CEPA negotiations

SEOUL - South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and Indonesian President Joko Widodo have announced the official conclusion of negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at a Summit on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Busan. Both leaders agreed to co-operate to achieve US$30 billion in bilateral trade volume by 2020.

Bilateral negotiations on the agreement began in March 2012, with seven rounds of talks held between March 2012 and February 2014, but they achieved no progress.
During Widodo's visit to Korea in September last year, both leaders agreed to resume negotiations.

The agreement means immediate scrapping of tariffs in Indonesia on South Korea's main exports, such as steel products, automotive components and synthetic resin. South Korea secures access of 93% in the Indonesian market, higher than the 80.1% under Seoul's free trade agreement with ASEAN.  www.korea.kr (ATI).