Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 11:36 AM UTC

Gov't pushes to sign Indonesia-EU CEPA by end of October

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Maria, Kenzu

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Budi Santoso said his side is pushing to speed up the completion of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (I-EU CEPA) before the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) facility ends in 2027.

Santoso said the government targets signing the I-EU CEPA at the end of October 2026. After the signing, the government will speed up the ratification process so the agreement can take effect in January 2027.

"That is why we are pushing for it to be signed at the end of October," Santoso said here on Tuesday.

According to him, the government is targeting completion of the process so that Indonesia is not affected by the end of the European Union (EU) GSP facility, which has so far provided certain tariff preferences for Indonesian export products.

"Without the GSP, the facilities provided by the EU, namely tariff facilities, will no longer exist," he said.

He explained that the Indonesian government has met with ambassadors of EU countries, led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.

Santoso added that Indonesia and the EU have agreed that the agreement can be completed by the end of October.

"We are pushing because yesterday we also met with all the EU ambassadors led by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, and we agreed that we will finalize the signing at the end of this October. It is likely in Jakarta," Santoso explained.

Santoso noted that Indonesia and the EU are still finalizing several matters related to the agreement. He said Indonesia has, in principle, completed its part, while discussions on the EU side are still ongoing.

One of the matters still under discussion, according to him, relates to the language of the agreement document. Indonesia wants the signed document to use both Indonesian and English.

If completion can be achieved on target, he continued, the ratification process will be accelerated so the I-EU CEPA is expected to take effect in early 2027.

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