JAKARTA: Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi met with French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Jakarta on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, to discuss endeavors strengthening economic ties between Indonesia and France.
“I just had a bilateral meeting with French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. We talked about efforts to boost economic cooperation between Indonesia and France. As we know, France is one of Indonesia’s important partners in the economic sector at the European Union,” said Minister Retno.
During the bilateral meeting, both countries discussed topics around economic cooperation, particularly those related to investment, trade, creative economy, access to Indonesia’s oil palm products, and Indonesia’s FLEGT timber license.
According to Retno, France is one of the European countries that support the FLEGT licenses for Indonesia’s timber to enter the EU market.
“Indonesian timber is the first to enter the European Union market. We also talked about how to develop a similar license for Indonesian oil palm,” Retno added.
Both ministers also discussed ways to accelerate the finalization of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and the EU.
The Indonesia-France trade value in 2016 reached US$2.34 billion, and the investment value realized by France in Indonesia in the period of 2010-2015 reached US$730.08 million. In 2016, France invested US$109 million for 424 projects in Indonesia.
