Ministers from Indonesia and the Member States of the European Free Trade Association EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) met during the World Economic Forum in Davos on 27 January 2007 to discuss trade relations between them.
Ministers discussed the recently finalised report from the Joint EFTA-Indonesia Study Group. The Joint Study Group was established by the Ministers in November 2005 to examine the feasibility of a comprehensive trade agreement between the EFTA States and Indonesia. After meetings in Geneva and Jakarta during 2006, the Joint Study Group recently completed its work and came to the conclusion that Indonesia and the EFTA States would benefit from a comprehensive trade agreement. In order to maximise the mutual benefits, the agreement would be built on the principles of comprehensiveness, liberalisation, trade facilitation and cooperation, and consistency with the WTO Agreements.
Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the report of the Joint Study Group, welcomed its recommendations and agreed to prepare the ground in view of a decision on the launch of negotiations. Ministers decided to set up a working group on trade and investment to prepare the ground.
The total value of EFTA-Indonesia merchandise trade amounted to approximately 576 million USD in 2005, a 12.7% increase compared to 2004. Since 1999, trade between the EFTA States and Indonesia has increased by 65.9%. In 2005 the EFTA States' leading exports to Indonesia were machinery, tanning and dying products, pharmaceuticals, and fertilisers, while Indonesian exports to EFTA mainly consisted of electrical machinery, apparel or clothing accessories, wood, and furniture.