Jakarta (VNA) ꧅– Indonesia and the Philippines have discussed aproposal to organise dialogues in copper and textiles, taking each other’s advantagesand boost economic and trade links between the two countries.

At the virtual 8th Meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Trade,Investments, Handicrafts and Shipping held on August 11, Iman Pambagyo,Director-General for International Trade Negotiations at Indonesia’s Ministryof Trade, and Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Undersecretary for Industry Development andTrade Policy of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines, agreedto finalise a number of Memoranda of Understanding oninvestment promotion, halal products quality assurance, and the creativeeconomy. The two sides also agreed to hold dialogues on cooperation in copper andtextiles within the year in order to exchange information on best practices andcurrent industry regulations, and discuss collaboration activities, with theparticipation from both the government and private sector. They consented that in the long term, these dialogues are seen as avenues toboost the manufacturing capabilities of the two countries’ industrial sectorsthrough the infusion of investments and technology. The Indonesian side proposed increasing cooperation in fisheries and border trade. The Philippines is committed toconsider the proposals given its relevance to both the Philippines andIndonesia as archipelagic states with common borders and taking into accountthe developments in sub-regional integration, Undersecretary Rodolfo said. The two countries also committed to work on outstanding issues with the endview of enhancing the business environment affecting the operations of bothsides’ businesses. The JWG serves as a focused mechanism to discuss trade, investments, economiccooperation and other issues affecting the business environment, apart from theregular engagement of both countries under the ASEAN framework. In 2019, Indonesia was the Philippines’ 8th trading partner, with total two-waytrade hitting 7.5 billion USD. Indonesia was also the Philippines’ 13th exportmarket, 6th import source (out of 191), and 27th source of approvedinvestments./.