The Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK-CEPA) will further strengthen relations between the two countries, Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, said in a statement received here on Wednesday.
“With the agreement, the two countries have agreed to bring their relationship to a higher level in the industry, infrastructure, employment, economy, and trade sectors,” he remarked while providing information on the agreement at a hybrid event in Surabaya city, East Java province.
According to Sambuaga, IK-CEPA provides a comprehensive institutional framework for bilateral cooperation, thus the agreement will provide new opportunities for economic growth, trade, and investment for the two countries.
Furthermore, through the agreement, both Indonesia and South Korea have committed to opening additional markets, besides the ones included in ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA), he noted.
The commitment provides wider and preferential access to the South Korean market both for large companies as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), he said.
Regarding investment, both countries are committed to providing more opportunities for South Korean investment in Indonesia which can encourage employment, he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia will provide additional preferences for 104 raw material tariff posts for South Korea, the deputy minister said.
Both parties are also committed to cooperation in agricultural, fisheries, forestry, technology and innovation, culture, and creative activities, and SMEs sectors, he informed.
“Through the cooperation, Indonesia can request technical assistance, experience sharing, and training to improve our human resources quality,” he said.
Meanwhile, member of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Nasim Khan, said he expected IK-CEPA to become a milestone to strengthen mutually beneficial relations between the two countries.
It is also hoped that the agreement will be able to have a real impact on the welfare of the Indonesian people amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
“Commission VI of DPR RI will continue to monitor the agreement, thus it can benefit the community since all government’s attempts must bring prosperity to the people,” the house member remarked.
The Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions (KSPI) has threatened to call a nationwide strike if the government does not meet workers’ demands.
Their demands include the government revising gubernatorial decisions fixing the provincial minimum wage for 2021, revoking a regulation on wages, and implementing the Constitutional Court’s decree declaring the Job Creation Law unconstitutional.
“We can order two million workers to stop production. All will suffer losses and the economy will be paralyzed. We will not do that if the government seriously implements the Constitutional Court’s decree and the gubernatorial decisions,” KSPI President Said Iqbal said at a joint rally, held near the Patung Kuda roundabout in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The joint rally, which started on December 6, will end on December 10, 2021.
Iqbal warned of escalating protests if the government fails to implement the Constitutional Court’s decree declaring the Job Creation Law No. 11/2020 conditionally unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Court has declared Omnibus Law No. 11/2020 unconstitutional or contradictory to the 1945 Constitution, adding it has no binding legal force.
The Constitutional Court has also ordered the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government to revise the Job Creation Law in two years’ time.
“A nationwide strike will be a choice if (the government) ignores public aspirations in the next two years starting from the enactment of the Job Creation Law,” Iqbal said.
The nationwide strike, which will involve two million workers from 60 federations of national labor unions, will have a detrimental impact on 100 factories, he added.
Tens of thousands of workers from Jakarta and surrounding areas participated in the joint rally on Wednesday to convey three demands.
First, all governors revise their decisions on provincial minimum wages because they contradict the Constitutional Court’s decree No. 7 suspending strategic policies/measures having a far-reaching impact, including on wages, Iqbal said.
Second, the government revoke Government Regulation No. 36/2021 on wages, he added.
Third, the government implement the Constitutional Court’s decree declaring the Job Creation Law conditionally unconstitutional, he informed.
Source: Antara News