Jakarta. Indonesia is aiming to implement its freshly revised trade pact with Japan in the first quarter of 2024.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is currently in Tokyo to attend the summit that celebrates the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan cooperation. Ahead of the summit, Jokowi met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for some talks on economic relations. The meeting witnessed the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for an amended Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA). 

Indonesia over the past years had been seeking some changes to the IJEPA in hopes that its processed seafood - -including canned tunas -- could get access to Japan. Speaking in a recorded press statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said the amended IJEPA was currently undergoing legal scrubbing. This is a process in which both countries agree on the precise meaning of the text.

“We will then translate the document, and have it ratified in our parliaments based on each country’s procedures. We are aiming to implement the new IJEPA agreement in the first quarter of 2024,” Retno said in the video published on Saturday.

According to Retno, the changes to the IJEPA will eliminate the tariffs for Indonesian processed seafood. It will also provide greater market access for the banking sector.

Retno added: “Other benefits of the improved IJEPA include a partnership with the New Manufacturing Industrial Development Center or MIDEC which will help make Indonesia a regional production base.”

The IJEPA first came into force in 2008. Indonesia-Japan concluded a general review of the IJEPA in 2019. Since then, the two countries have been negotiating for some changes in the agreement’s terms. 

The Indonesian government revealed in July 2022 that its request for Japan to give market access to its canned tunas was among the outstanding issues in the IJEPA protocol changes negotiations at the time. 

According to the Trade Ministry, the agreed amendments include changes to the chapters on trade in goods, movement of natural persons, and intellectual property, to name a few. 

“On trade in goods, Japan will open up and improve the market access for 112 tariff posts which they had not previously given. This includes the 4 tariff posts for processed seafood,” Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan was quoted as saying in a separate press statement on Saturday.

“This will enable our processed seafood to compete with the main competitors in the region,” Zulkifli said.

The ministry data shows Indonesia-Japan trade skyrocketed from $32.5 billion in 2021 to $42 billion the following year. In 2022, Indonesia saw a $7.7 billion surplus in its trade with Japan.