Indonesia is studying the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement reached by 11 nations after the U.S. exited, with a view to joining the trade pact, Jusuf Kalla, the country's vice president, said on Tuesday.
Those comments mark a turnaround in policy for the Southeast Asian nation, which had previously said that the trade pact had lost its allure without the U.S.'s participation.
Speaking to the Nikkei Asian Review on the sidelines of the Future of Asia conference, hosted by Nikkei, Kalla said that Indonesia "is now studying the conditions, the possibility" of joining the trade agreement. "Of course, if TPP is free of tax, and Indonesia still pays tax, then it is not easy for Indonesian goods to compete in the market," he said. "That is why our intention is to join" after the pact comes into force, he said.
The vice president had said in an interview with Nikkei last year that "without the U.S. [in the TPP], we feel that the benefits on the trade front for Indonesia aren't that big, and we have lost interest," but he now is of the opinion that regardless of whether the world's biggest economy returns or not, Indonesia could join.
Kalla said he hoped that the studies currently being conducted by his government in the existing TPP agreement would conclude within "six months to a year," after which Indonesia will make a final decision. The studies will focus on how the country's competitiveness will be affected if it joins the pact.
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