Event Reports

On 11 March 2020, EuroCham and KADIN both got together for a round table discussion on their joint positions for the upcoming EU-Indonesia CEPA negotiations, which was planned on 16-20 March in Bali, Indonesia, but on hold due to the ongoing global Corona Virus Outbreak that also affected both regions. EuroCham in this meeting was led by EuroCham Vice Chairman Wichard von Harrach, and accompanied by few leaders of the EuroCham Working Groups, and secretariat staffs. While from KADIN side, the delegation was led by Wahyuni Bahar, Chairman of Permanent Committee of Multilateral Institutions and Free Trade Agreements, accompanied also by few other representatives.

The discussion was very lively, and both parties showed their strong commitment to a continue the ongoing negotiations for successful and mutually beneficial negotiation. The parties both agreed to prepare a statement in support for the negotiations, and calling for these to resume promptly and regularly. This meeting focused primarily on the Indonesian market, and the role of European companies in it. The group also enthusiastically agreed to arrange another meeting in April, this time focusing on the European market for Indonesian firms and investors.

To finalize the chapters related to taxation and investment recommendations within the draft Transport and Logistics Position Papers, the taxation sub-group of the Transport and Logistics working group met on 13 March 2020. The intention is that this meeting can updates and adjust the position papers recommendations based on latest development in 2019. From this meeting, it was also agreed that EuroCham should further coordinate with the Indonesian Logistic and Forwarders Association (ALFI) to further align advocacy activities. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Sugyanto Halim from DB Schenker as the Deputy Head of EuroCham Transport and Logistics Working Group for Tax, Finance, and Investment issues.