JAKARTA - Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi held a bilateral meeting with the Ambassador of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai in Washington DC, United States of America on Wednesday (11/5). ASEAN-United States digital economic cooperation is one of the important issues discussed in the framework of discussing bilateral, regional and multilateral economic issues.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-US Special Summit (Summit) on 11-13 May 2022.
Trade Minister Lutfi said that the digital economy element is a very significant issue in navigating the recovery of trade flows in the region. However, this cross-border platform has its own challenges that can put quite strong pressure on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This is in view of the counterproductive dynamics of international trade with economic growth in the last two years. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic, the distortion of global and regional supply chains, the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, to the weakening of world confidence in the multilateral trading system.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Katherine Tai said that the United States program in economic development in the Indo-Pacific region and Indonesia is one of the countries that has a significant influence in the Southeast Asia region. According to her, the United States Government's agenda in the Indo-Pacific region is through the realization of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) which has flexibility and consists of four main interrelated pillars. The four pillars are Fair and Resilient Trade, Supply Chain Resilience, Infrastructure, Clean Energy and Decarbonization; and Tax and Anti-Corruption.
At the meeting, several issues of concern to Indonesia and the United States were also discussed. These issues include kretek cigarettes, the WTO, and several bilateral issues such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), as well as commitments in the Indonesia-United States agreement. At the meeting, the two representatives will seek further bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade APEC-MRT Meeting or the upcoming Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-12). (LM)