Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the Indonesian government plans to sign the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) in March 2019.

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Nearly one year after US President Donald Trump confirmed the US would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison followed suit by suggesting that Australia plans to make the same risky move. Morrison said Australia is considering to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move its embassy to the holy city.

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While daily newspaper Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Jakarta on 31 August 2018 to announce the completion of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), Indonesian newspaper Kompas reports that Morrison will come to Jakarta for further IA-CEPA negotiations (only).

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Negotiations related to the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) have entered the final phase. Iman Pambagyo, the Trade Ministry's International Trade Negotiations Director General, said both sides are currently finalizing the agreement. He added that around 85 percent of the agreement has been completed now and the deal is expected to be fully completed before the end of 2018.

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General Motors manufactured its last Holden car at the Adelaide factory on Friday (20/10), hence effectively ending the once-iconic Australian car industry. From now on Australians will have to buy cars that were imported from abroad. While other governments have been keeping national automotive industries alive after the financial crisis through bailouts, the Australian government saw no real economic reason to keep this industry alive.

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Indonesian paper manufacturers may see their exports fall further in 2017 as Australia and the United States have implemented high anti-dumping import duties on paper from Indonesia. Liana Bratasida, Executive Director Indonesia Pulp & Paper Association (APKI), said several local paper manufacturers stopped shipments to Australia after the country implemented anti-dumping import duties in the range of 2.4 - 72.8 percent in December 2016. Reportedly, it has become not feasible for these companies to continue the export of paper.

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After suspending cooperation with US multinational banking and financial services firm JP Morgan Chase (for the underweight rating, a double downgrade), Indonesia has also suspended military ties with Australia after 'offensive training materials' were seen at the Special Air Service base in Perth where members of the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) were doing military training. Major General Wuryanto, Indonesian military spokesman, said on Wednesday (04/01) that all forms of cooperation between the Indonesian and Australian military have been suspended.

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According to the Central Java Police Department, executions of 13 convicted drug traffickers - through firing squad - are being prepared and should be completed within a couple of weeks. Names and nationalities of the 13 people on death row in Indonesia have not been published yet. However, it is reported in media that three Indonesian prisoners have been transferred to the island Nusa Kambangan, the location where executions usually take place, on Sunday (08/05).

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On 20 March 2016, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as Bank Indonesia's latest interest rate cut, the resumption of talks about a free trade agreement with Australia, the trade balance, GDP growth projections of the World Bank and IMF, the family planning program, commodities, and more.

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Neighbors Indonesia and Australia will resume talks about the Indonesia-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), a bilateral free trade agreement. The decision to resume negotiations in May 2016 was taken after Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong met Australian Trade and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo in Canberra on Wednesday (16/03). Previously, talks about the IA-CEPA were put on hold amid a period of severe diplomatic tensions between both nations involving the "2013 spy-scandal", the execution of two Australian citizens in, cattle trade, and the tough asylum-seeker policies of Australia.

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After nearly nine years of talks and negotiations (although communication between both sides had been put to a halt - amid diplomatic tensions – at more than one occasion over these nine years) Indonesia and Australia finally signed the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) in Jakarta on 4 March 2019. It is an agreement that launches a brand new chapter in economic relations and cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have intensely discussed negotiations surrounding the creation of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA). Both leaders met at the sidelines of a special summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders in Sydney (Australia) this weekend.

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In an update on Thursday (25/02) Australian authorities advised the public to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia as recent indications suggest that Islamic militants may be in an advanced stage of preparing violent attacks in Indonesia. Australia warns about possible terrorist attacks throughout Indonesia (including Bali and Jakarta) and it specifically discourages journeys to Central Sulawesi, Papua and West Papua. On Thursday 14 January 2016 Islamic militants engaged in attacks in Central Jakarta, resulting in eight casualties (including the four terrorists).

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Indonesia's heavily depreciated rupiah makes it more difficult for Indonesians to study abroad or to send their children to universities abroad without having the financial aid in the form of a scholarship. For those that are thinking of making such a decision, they need to take into account the performance of the Indonesian rupiah as well as the inflation outlook in the country of destination. So far in 2015, the Indonesian rupiah has depreciated 18 percent against the US dollar, 9 percent against the euro, 14 percent against China's yuan, and 2.4 percent against the Australian dollar.

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Indonesian Minister for Economic Affairs, Sofyan Djalil, announced an economic policy package that is to be implement to boost the Indonesian economy, particularly in a move to improve the country’s current account balance, which is the broadest measurement of foreign exchange flows, including trade, services, interest payments and remittances. One new policy change involves visa-free travel into Indonesia. Starting from April 2015, Indonesia will allow foreigners from an additional 30 countries to enter Indonesia without a visa.

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Positive macroeconomic data of Indonesia - involving the significantly lower trade deficit in 2014 and easing inflation - had a good impact on the Indonesia rupiah exchange rate on Tuesday (03/02) although prior to closing the currency somewhat slid after Australia's central bank cut its interest rates causing speculation of further policy easing around the Asia Pacific region in a move to support sluggish growth and avert deflation. Most emerging Asian currencies strengthened on Tuesday against the US dollar on stronger risk appetite.

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Weakening global stock indices meant that it would be difficult for the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) to continue its upward movement on Tuesday (05/08). Moreover, there were few positive sentiments originating from the Archipelago as Indonesia’s Q2-2014 GDP growth (+5.12 percent year-on-year) was below expectation and the country’s trade balance showed a deficit of USD $300 million in June 2014. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah exchange appreciated slightly.

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Just as unexpected as yesterday when the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) fell 1.06 percent amid positive domestic and international circumstances, the IHSG made a surprise rebound on Tuesday’s trading day. Yesterday’s fall was exorbitant and unfounded and today market participants made up for that performance by accumulating stocks that had lost value. As a result the IHSG gained 1.25 percent to 4,946.09 points on Tuesday (10/06).

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Although Indonesian Finance Minister Chatib Basri provided positive news to the market by stating that the country's trade deficit (and co-related current account deficit) will probably not be as large in the second quarter of 2014 (as compared to the same quarter in 2013) as well as an expected increase in Indonesian banks' consumer credit, the benchmark stock index (known as Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) was unable to rise on Wednesday's trading day (04/06). Particularly local investors were eager to sell their Indonesian shares.

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Supported by enthousiastic foreign investors, the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index or also known as IHSG) managed to climb 0.61 percent to 4,942.16 points on Tuesday (03/06). Particularly consumer, trade and mining stocks were popular on today's trading day. It is interesting to note that this growth happened amid sharp rupiah depreciation as the currency still feels the negative impact of the USD $1.97 billion April 2014 trade deficit that was released yesterday (02/06).

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