Indonesia Pushes for Accelerated Implementation of Indonesia-Canada CEPA

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Minister of International Trade The Honourable Maninder Sidhu on the sidelines of the Canada Investment Summit series in Toronto, Canada, on Monday, September 14. This meeting took place at an important moment, in line with the transition of trade relations between the two countries from the ratification stage to the implementation stage of the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA), in the midst of a continuously dynamic global trade landscape. During the meeting, Airlangga conveyed that bilateral trade relations between Indonesia and Canada continued to grow steadily, with an average annual growth of 9.13 percent since 2021. The total trade between the two countries in the first semester of 2025 was recorded at 3.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period last year. ICA-CEPA is Indonesia's first comprehensive economic partnership agreement with a country in the North American region, which was signed by the Minister of Trade and witnessed by the heads of state of the two countries in September 2025. "This agreement is expected to strengthen the economic relationship between the two countries and open access to markets, investments, and wider cooperation with strategic partners in the North American region," he said. Airlangga also conveyed that the two countries are optimistic that they can prepare for the implementation of the agreement which is scheduled for the end of this year. In addition, ICA-CEPA removes or lowers tariffs on more than 90 percent of Canadian tariff lines for Indonesian products, while Indonesia will do the same for almost 86 percent of Canadian tariff lines. Indonesia's exports to Canada are projected to increase to US$11.8 billion by 2030 as the agreement is fully implemented, with broad cooperation opportunities in various strategic sectors such as the downstreaming of critical minerals, clean energy, sustainable agriculture and fisheries, infrastructure, and financial and digital services. He said that more than just a trade agreement, ICA-CEPA also has strategic value for Indonesia's position in the region, namely as the largest economy in ASEAN, Indonesia plays an important role in expanding Canada's involvement in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as opening the door for strengthening Canada's trade network with ASEAN more broadly. Airlangga added that therefore, the readiness to implement ICA-CEPA is a common priority so that the benefits can be immediately felt by business actors in both countries. The two ministers agreed to jointly solve a number of challenges in the implementation of ICA-CEPA, including adjustments to standardization requirements, sustainability and employment practices, increasing the capacity of MSMEs so that they can take advantage of new market opportunities, and strengthening Indonesia's logistics infrastructure and trade facilitation to remain competitive. Airlangga conveyed that both parties emphasized the importance of ensuring that the benefits of the agreement could be felt evenly. In the future, he added, Indonesia and Canada agreed to focus on cooperation on the concrete implementation of the ICA-CEPA, including through accelerating the dialogue on cooperation on critical minerals and economic technical cooperation. "Today's meeting confirms the joint commitment of Indonesia and Canada to ensure that ICA-CEPA really provides real benefits for business actors in both countries," he said.