15.10.2018 (Netralnews) - NUSA DUA, NNC  - The Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita stressed that Indonesia and Switzerland agreed to complete the Indonesia-European Free Trade Association Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EFTA-CEPA) or IE-CEPA before the end of 2018. EFTA consists of four European countries, such as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

This confirmation was delivered after a bilateral meeting with Swiss Economic Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann in Nusa Dua, Bali on the sidelines of the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting.

"The bilateral meeting with Switzerland is intended to continue the results of the bilateral meeting that we have conducted in Zurich, Switzerland some time ago. Indonesia and Switzerland are determined to complete the IE-CEPA agreement this year," explained the Trade Minister, in a press release on Monday (10/15/2018).

The target for the completion of the IE-CEPA agreement, said the Minister of Trade, was in accordance with the mandate given by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. Indonesia is scheduled to host the last IE-CEPA negotiations meeting on October 31, 2018. Negotiation teams from four EFTA countries will go to Bali to finalize the agreement.

After the IE-CEPA finalization meeting, the five countries agreed to officially announce the completion of these negotiations at the EFTA ministerial meeting which is planned to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23, 2018.

"Next is a technical process for legal scrubbing and translation into languages of each country," added the Trade Minister.

Meanwhile the issue of palm oil which is a major concern for Indonesia has shown positive results. Switzerland has held a referendum on the issue and the results of the referendum state that palm oil is needed for domestic industry in Switzerland, and concerns about the prohibition of oil palm are no longer justified.