Indonesia, Japan enter substantial FTA negotiations
February 14, 2006Indonesia and Japan have entered substantial negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement in their latest round of talks in Jakarta, raising hopes that a basic agreement can be reached later this year, Indonesian and Japanese government officials said Tuesday. ''Now, we have a common understanding that both sides will do their best to reach a basic agreement in the summer, (and) the summer means, to my understanding, June or July,'' a Japanese official said at the end of the five-day Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement talks.