Indonesian Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) and Deputy Minister of International Economic Relations of Chile, José Miguel Ahumada signed a Trade in Services (TIS) Agreement in the Indonesia–Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IC–CEPA). Zulhas said Chile has great potential in marketing Indonesian export products to be able to touch the Latin American market. Moreover, according to Zulhas, Chile has superior human resources and includes a strong economy. "Chile is a developed country, its human resources are superior. We hope that Chile can become a hub for our (market) to Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Brazil, Argentina," said Zulhas at the Ministry of Trade Office, Monday (21/11).
Zulhas explained, this cooperation is Indonesia's effort to expand targeting traditional markets such as Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and South Asia. "Indonesia has a mission of 2045 to become a developed country, we can become a developed country if we can expand the market, we can dominate the world market. Our traditional (markets) are Europe, America, Asean, especially the west, now the market is slowing down, some are even in recession," Zulhas said. This cooperation is the second time signed by Indonesia and Chile. In the first collaboration, Zulhas said Indonesia's trade with Chile grew to around USD 0.5 billion. "I think in the next 2-4 years we will be able to exceed USD 1 billion. This is just Chile. If we can make this a hub for expansion. I have been to Argentina, to Ecuador, to Peru, have been to Colombia, almost everything that is nearby has I visited, it has a huge potential. Because Latin America has money and they can pay," said Zulhas. The Ministry of Trade noted that the potential for transactions through this signed cooperation is USD 5.8 million. "Therefore, today we signed a CEPA agreement in the services sector," concluded Zulhas.
