Indonesia & South Korea Move Towards Free Trade Deal

South Korean and Indonesian businesses inked more than $4 billion in trade deals a couple of weeks ago when Korean President Park Geun-Hye was in Jakarta to fast track a free-trade agreement with Southeast Asia’s top economy.

Indonesia and Korea hope to significantly increase trade from $29.6 billion in 2012 with a new free trade agreement.  Both governments have expressed hope of finalising a free-trade agreement by year-end.

“We need a firm institutional framework if South Korea and Indonesia are to achieve the goal of expanding trade volume to $100 billion by 2020,” Park told business leaders from the two countries at a meeting in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Park said she hoped the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), which is currently under negotiation and will break down trade barriers, would be finalised at the earliest possible date.

“This pact will contribute greatly to expanding trade volume between the two countries,” Park said of the agreement, which has gone through five rounds of negotiations since talks began last year.

Among the deals signed, worth $4.14 billion collectively, was a $3 billion investment into a railway to transport coal and $600 million into a power plant.

Korea is one of many nations looking to tap into Indonesia’s booming economy — it is already Indonesia’s third-biggest investor and fourth-largest trade partner this year, according to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.