Jakarta. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday that Canberra would back Jakarta’s candidacy to the rich country club OECD and the Trans-Pacific trading group CPTPP.

Indonesia has set its sights on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with the application letter already sent last September. At the same time, the mineral-rich country is in the process of joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Just days after being sworn in, Albanese embarked on his first-ever overseas trip of his second term. Close neighbor Indonesia became his first stop. Amid these application processes, Prabowo called on the newly reelected Albanese to back the two groups’ expansion with Indonesia -- a request that the Australian politician had said yes to.

“I assure you, Mr. President [Prabowo], of Australia’s support of you [Indonesia] joining the OECD and your accession to the CPTPP,” Albanese said at the joint presser in Jakarta, not long after the bilateral talks.

Albanese called Southeast Asia as the fastest-growing region in modern history, with Indonesia being central to that growth -- something that he also attributed to the presence of “free and fair trade”.

"Our region comes first. I'm here in Indonesia because no relationship is more important to Australia than this one. No nation is more important to prosperity, security, and the stability of the Indo-Pacific than Indonesia,” Albanese said.

Prabowo admitted to wanting Australia's support as the country currently holds CPTPP’s rotating chairmanship. The retired army general also called Australia an “important member” in the OECD. The two leaders had also agreed to increase trade and investment. To Prabowo, the current global economic uncertainties had made stronger ties “increasingly more important”, although the Indonesian leader did not explicitly mention the US’ tariffs that also hit the two neighboring nations.

Indonesia wants to join the OECD to become a high-income nation. Jakarta’s CPTPP candidacy stems from its wish to unlock non-traditional markets, namely the largely untapped Latin American region. However, US President Donald Trump’s tariff war has become a wake-up call for Indonesia to increase global trade beyond Washington, among others, by joining such clubs. Senior minister Airlangga Hartarto told the Jakarta Globe not long ago that Indonesia was getting closer to securing the CPTPP seat.

“The CPTPP members will convene sometime in the middle of this year. From there on, they would decide on the next steps for [our] accession [to the group],” Airlangga said at the time.

The OECD is not a free trade agreement that eliminates tariffs. However, the organization requires Indonesia to make adjustments to meet its stringent standards, even putting Jakarta under rigorous technical reviews. Australia joined the OECD in 1971. Candidate member Indonesia wants to be part of the elite club by 2027. Indonesia also has to secure all member countries’ approval to be part of the OECD family. The 38-member grouping encompasses Japan, Canada, the US, and even Israel.

The CPTPP is a free trade pact that brings together Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the UK. Once the pact gets fully implemented, 99 percent of the tariff lines will be duty-free when the signatories trade with each other.

Official statistics showed that Indonesia-Australia trade had declined from nearly $3.4 billion in January-March 2024 to just $3 billion over the same period this year. Indonesia ran a deficit of almost $1.1 billion in its Q1 2025 trade with Australia. In other words, Jakarta is buying more Australian goods than it is exporting to the neighboring country.

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