Tokyo (ANTARA News) - With the planned signing of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan , one of the important things Indonesia will have to do is to improve Japan`s business confidence (in Indonesia), an Indoneisan trade official said.
Halida Mujani, special advicer for international cooperation at Indonesia`s Trade Ministry, made the statement here Friday night after the conclusion of Indonesian-Japanese technical talks on the substance of the EPA and the signing of the agrement`s final draft.
Teams from the two countries had been holding marathon meetings since last Tuesday to agree on the EPA`s final draft for eventual signing by the heads of the Indonesian and Japanese governemnts in Jakarta next August.
"Indonesia is expected to launch more active business promotions in Japan in order to increase the confidence of Japanese businesses. This will also serve as in important indicator in assessing the success of the EPA," Halida said.
She said the problem on the Indonesian side now was to what extent it had prepared itself to be able to seize the opportunities arising from the opening of the Japanese market to Indonesian goods under the EPA.
According to Halida , Japanese businesses were still harboring doubts about the prospects of investing in Indonesia although they often say Indonesia remains a prospective country for investment.
"Japan is still waiting for the promulgation of the new Investment Law and wants to know how it is implemented in the field. They are also closely monitoring developments in taxation and labor affairs in Indonesia," she said.
She said Indonesia`s weaknesses lay in the supply of goods. "We have to work hard to increase our production and supply capabilities," she said.
The same opinion was expressed by Asianto Sinambela, director of trade, industry and investment at Indonesia`s Foreign Ministry, who said the EPA should encourage Indonesia to be more aggressive in seizing the market opportunities the agreement would open.
He said Indonesia was facing new challange from Japan. "The problem will lie in our ability to utilize the opportunities. The EPA will encourage bigger exports to Japan," he said.
Indonesia`s agricultural, plantation, fishery and manufacturing products must meet international standards to enter the Japanese market, he said.
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