Australia’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Indonesia will provide a boost for struggling farmers, according to the nation’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham concluded trade negotiations with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Friday, bringing eight years of negotiations to an end.
Under the deal, which will be signed by leaders of both countries in November, 99 percent of Australian goods exported to Indonesia will not be subjected to tariffs.
It comes at a time when Australian farmers are under intense pressure from the nation’s worst drought in 50 years.
“A renewed economic partnership with Indonesia is particularly a major boost for Australian farmers with the grains, live cattle, dairy and horticulture sectors to benefit from greater certainty of access and lower tariffs,” Morrison and Birmingham said in a joint statement on Saturday.
“As a result, Australian farmers will be able to export 500,000 tonnes of feed grains such as wheat into Indonesia tariff free. This is a significant boost for the Australian wheat industry, building on our substantial milling wheat exports.”
Indonesia was only Australia’s 13th largest two-way trade partner in 2017 despite the two nations being close neighbours.
Speaking in the wake of the announcement on Friday, Morrison said the relationship between the two countries was “underdone”.
“It is a massive win-win. I mean, this is a skills transfer and sharing. This is building up capabilities within economies,” he said.
“That is the part of the relationship where we need to do some more heavy lifting, the economic relationship.”
