Fajarasia.co – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia and Singapore needed to strengthen cooperation in regional forums such as ASEAN and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework), as well as through trade cooperation such as RCEP.
He said Indonesia and Singapore played an important role in regional growth as key members of ASEAN.
“RCEP will benefit all of us through the ease of foreign investment entering the RPC, job creation, legal certainty, and improving the investment climate by encouraging regulatory reforms,” Airlangga said during a lunch meeting with Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs HE DR Vivian Balakrishnan, as quoted from official statement, Thursday (2/6/2022).
The ASEAN economy will grow 3.0 percent in 2021 and is projected to grow 4.9 percent in 2022.
This growth was driven by increased domestic demand, exports and the reopening of the tourism sector.
ASEAN’s economic growth is also driven by a high vaccination rate where 64.4 percent of the people of ASEAN have been vaccinated.
Regarding the issue of IPEF cooperation, Coordinating Minister Airlangga conveyed Indonesia’s views as reflected in the ASEAN Outlook on Indo Pacific (AOIP) which was initiated by Indonesia and ratified by the ASEAN Leaders in 2019.
“For this reason, Indonesia supports the synergy of AOIP and IPEF, because AOIP and RCEP are also trying to strengthen ASEAN’s position in the region, especially in terms of investment, the digital economy, and economic cooperation,” Airlangga concluded.****
