Jakarta. Canada has pledged CAD 25 million (around $18 million) to help Indonesia implement its upcoming free trade agreement, according to a senior official.

Canadian Secretary of State for International Development Randeep Sarai has just wrapped up his Jakarta visit. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sarai said that Ottawa had provided funding to make sure that Indonesia is ready for the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This accord, which promises major tariff elimination on goods trade, is set to enter into force later this year.

“Canada has committed CAD 25 million to support Indonesia with technical assistance and capacity-building to help implement the CEPA. We look forward to this game-changing deal,” Sarai said in Jakarta.

He went on to say that “the CAD 25 million is for the technical know-how. My assumption is to integrate the trade pact into the Indonesian economy and market, … including digital assistance."

The CAD 25 million assistance is set to flow into Jakarta over the course of five years.

Sarai’s trip saw the launch of another CAD 22 million worth of assistance, about CAD 5 million given over 6 years to prepare 400 small businesses, particularly women-led enterprises, for exports. Parts of the money — around CAD 5 million — also go to providing climate-resilient agritech for Indonesian small businesses in the processed food sector.

Indonesia-Canada trade amounted to $39.7 billion between January and November, according to the latest available government data. Indonesia ran a $16.5 billion surplus over the same period, driven by electrical machinery and equipment exports totaling $308.1 million. The CEPA will have Canada eliminate the import tax on 90.5% of its tariff lines for Indonesian goods. In return, the Southeast Asian country will get rid of or slash duties on 85.8% of its tariff lines once the trade deal kicks in. Indonesia was the first ASEAN economy to strike a bilateral trade deal with Canada.

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