Jakarta. Indonesia is seeking to ratify the supply chain pact of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) soon, according to senior minister Airlangga Hartarto. 

Indonesia is a member of the US-led IPEF, which brings together 14 countries, including close neighbors Australia and Malaysia. The group’s members have been negotiating agreements across four pillars: trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy. 

IPEF already signed the proposed agreement on supply chain resilience late last year. As the name suggests, the pact lays out how IPEF countries can work together to help safeguard against supply chain disruptions. The scope of cooperation includes exploring ways to improve the attractiveness of the investment opportunities in the bloc’s supply chains.

According to Airlangga, Indonesia wants to launch a presidential decree for IPEF’s supply chain pact soon at President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's behest. However, the minister did not reveal the exact timeframe for the ratification.

“Indonesia has finished the [agreement] on IPEF’s pillar of supply chain. Mr. President has instructed us to quickly ratify the supply chain agreement through a presidential decree,” Airlangga told the press at Jakarta's State Palace.

IPEF’s supply chain pact had entered into force in several member countries, including the US and Japan. The agreement took effect in South Korea last month. 

The IPEF would sign the agreements on the clean economy and fair economy principles on June 6, Airlangga revealed. 

The IPEF to this day is still struggling to reach a consensus on the trade pillar agreement. It is not a traditional trade agreement that promises its members market access. An IPEF ministerial statement shows that it focuses on workers’ protection, agriculture, and improving transparency in rulemaking, among others. According to Airlangga, only 5 out of 11 clusters of the agreement are completed. Indonesia is hoping to wrap up the trade-pillar pact negotiations by the end of 2024. 

“The pending clusters [on the trade-pillar agreement] are related to labor, environment, digital economy, trade facilitation, and competition policy,” the minister said.

IPEF members include the US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

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