Germany Hopes RI-EU Free Trade Agreement To be Realized soon

Jakarta, Jan 7 (ANTARA) - German Ambassador to Indonesia George Witschel has expressed his hope that Indonesia-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be realized soon. "The agreement will be beneficial for both sides. At the moment, there are several tariff barriers that hamper trade between Indonesia and German. With realization of Indonesia-EU`s FTA, I believe trade relation between Indonesia and German will increase," said the ambassador here on Monday. Witschel noted German can offer good quality of products namely machines and tools for industry to Indonesia. As to the doubt that euro crisis will hamper economic relation between Germany and Indonesia, the ambassador stated that it will not happen. "German has strong economy despite crisis that hit the European Union. I am optimistic that the EU will grow stronger in the next three to four years," he added. Up till now representatives from EU and Indonesia are still on internal discussion with officials from the respective countries on which commodities to be liberalised and which ones are not. Earlier Indonesia`s Director General for International Industrial Cooperation of the Ministry of Industry, Agus Tjahajana said the trade cooperation between ASEAN and China - embodied in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) - should be a lesson for Indonesia, because the agreement is more profitable for China, as a trading partner. "It is expected that the bilateral cooperation plan being negotiated by Indonesia with several parties, including the European Union, should not inflict a financial loss such as ACFTA. As a result of the ACFTA, the market share of local products has been swamped by imported products," Agus explained. Agus noted that Indonesia`s negotiations regarding a plan of cooperation with the EU will not be restricted to any particular sector, but include all sectors of industry in Indonesia. "Although the industrial sector claims to be ready for the EU-Indonesia cooperation implementation, all industries must be prepared to make products with high competitiveness," he stressed. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Ade Sudrajat Usman, said that the national textile sector is ready for and supports the imminent implementation of the EU-Indonesia cooperation. "Our textile exports will rise significantly, and the agreement should be realised so that we won`t miss the moment," Agus added.