Indonesia Speeds Up Bali Package Implementation

Jakarta (Antara) - The Indonesian government continues to speed up the implementation of the Bali Package which was born at the 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization  (WTO) held in Bali in 2013, as well as to open up access of new market for non-agricultural products through multilateral trade cooperation.

"The government is seeking to accelerate the implementation of Bali Package that put agriculture as a priority," Director General of International Trade Cooperation (KPI) of the Ministry of Commerce, Bachrul Chairi said in a press release received here on Wednesday.

He said Indonesia's industrial products have competitive edges that can penetrate international market.

"Thus, in addition to agricultural products, the government also seeks to utilize multilateral cooperation to expand market for non-agricultural goods," he said.

Earlier, some agricultural issues, interests of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and trade facilitation agreement have been agreed in Bali Package at the 9th Ministerial Conference of World Trade Organization (WTO).

Bachrul stated the Indonesia government still put agriculture as a strategic sector in development. The sector is still a livelihood source for the majority of the workforce in Indonesia, and a source of food in order to ensure food security, as well as industrial raw material source.

"Strengthening the agricultural sector will bring a positive impact on poverty reduction and mitigation of climate change impacts," Bachrul noted.

Bali Package, which was set up at the 9th Ministerial Meeting of  WTO, is a new milestone for the WTO to resolve the deadlock of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2001, as well as restores public confidence in the multilateral trading system.

The 10th Ministerial Meeting of WTO will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on December 15-18, 2015. (WDY)