ISDS Case Map
Indonesia
The Indonesian government will go ahead with the implementation of a free trade agreement with India despite strong opposition from local industries about a similar trade deal with China early this year, says a senior trade official.
Mufardi Rusli's neighbors hunch over tables covered in brightly colored fabric, the whirring of their sewing machines echoing across his Jakarta neighborhood. For Rusli, the sound is a bitter reminder of the $2 line of jackets that bankrupted him, costing him a garment business it took 15 years to build.
China will provide Indonesida with $1.8 billion in export credits to finance the import of Chinese goods for infrastructure projects such as toll roads, bridges and coal-fired power plants.
Tariff elimination under the ACFTA will not automatically boost Indonesia's agricultural export but is an entry point to increase market share in China
A proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and Indonesia has been put in cold storage as the Southeast Asian nation expressed its inability to resolve domestic opposition to such a pact. A joint study group set up by the two countries had strongly favoured a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement.
It is believed that the Indonesian government is not fully aware of the consequences or obligations it accepted when it ratified the ASEAN-China FTA. For example, there was barely any published feasibility study of commitments undertaken within the ACFTA or public hearings before the agreement was ratified.
The debate on the ASEAN-China FTA has somehow ignored the importance of financial globalization.
"We reject the ASEAN-China FTA. We'll lose our jobs, we can't compete with cheap Chinese products," rally coordinator Agus Supriyanto said.
Around 1 million Indonesians might lose their job because of ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement
According to rally organisers, the people are not satisfied with the present government, particularly with regard to issues such as the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Indonesia and China which they said would harm the interest of the people.
