Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently asked his Filipino counterpart Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr to lift the additional import duties or special safeguard measures on Indonesian coffee products.

Bolstering trade ties was high up in the agenda for Jokowi’s Wednesday meeting with Marcos at the Malacanang Palace in Manila. The Philippines largely imports its coffee from Indonesia. Jokowi wants these safeguard measures to be revoked in hopes that Indonesian coffee products can enjoy greater market access.

“We have agreed to continue to open up market access,” Jokowi said in his joint presser with Marcos.

“Indonesia seeks the Philippines’ support related to the special safeguard measures on Indonesian coffee products,” Jokowi said.

The Filipino president did not mention the special safeguard measures on Indonesian coffee during the presser. Although Marcos said both leaders had fruitful talks on other fields, including the South China Sea. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi talked about these measures in her press statement that recapped the meeting.

“Mr. President [Jokowi] hopes for the Philippines’s support to review the special safeguard measures on Indonesian coffee products. Hopefully, the Phillipines] can revoke those measures soon,” Retno said.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) data shows the Philippines imported $67.1 million worth of coffee in 2021. About 8.17 percent of its coffee imports came from Indonesia ($5.49 million). Vietnam became the Philippines’ largest supplier of coffee, amounting to $45.3 million.

The Philippines’ special safeguard measures on coffee products, including instant coffee, first came into effect in 2018. Filipino news agency Business Mirror wrote in March 2023 that the measures would remain in effect as long as the imported instant coffee arrived at a price lower than the trigger price.

Later that day, Jokowi visited the Indonesian coffee producer Kopiko Philippines Corporation (KPC) factory in the Philippines. The factory is part of Indonesian food and beverage giant Mayora Group’s investment in the ASEAN country.

“We see how an Indonesian business in the Philippines, Mayora, holds almost 50 percent of the market share in the Philippines. So [they are selling] coffee products, sachets, in large numbers,” Jokowi said in his recorded statement, shortly after touring the factory.

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