Director-General at the International Trade Negotiations at Indonesian Ministry of Trade Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, who is also the lead negotiator for ASEAN, said that at the fifth trade negotiating committee for the ASEAN - Canada FTA (ACAFTA) talks recently held in Bali, both sides had agreed to wrap up the negotiations within two years.

leftcenterrightdel
ASEAN and Canada are aiming to conclude the negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) by 2025. 

The ACAFTA will become ASEAN’s first FTA with the Americas, he said, adding negotiators must work towards the substantial conclusion of its negotiations by 2025.

Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono said the fifth round of the ACAFTA talks discussed several outstanding issues, including labor and environment.

The Bali meeting also brought together a number of working groups, among others, on investment, intellectual property, and trade in goods. In this round, we have agreed on many articles and paragraphs.

ASEAN and Canada agreed to launch the ACAFTA negotiations in 2021. Canada called the 10-membered ASEAN grouping its fourth-largest trading partner in 2021. Last year, two-way trade totaled 40.7 billion USD.

A joint feasibility study shows that a Canada-ASEAN FTA that liberalises trade in goods reduces non-tariff measures, and improves trade facilitation can increase the Southeast Asian bloc’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 39.4 billion USD. The same study shows that Canada is expected to get a 5.1 billion USD in GDP gain.

Source: VNA