Indonesia expects to sign free trade deal with Russia-led union this year, minister says
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the agreement would open up new opportunities for commodities including crude palm oil, coffee and natural rubber.
Both parties announced on Thursday they had completed substantive talks for the agreement.
'I hope both parties can immediately follow this up by completing all the necessary stages of the process so that this agreement can be signed this year,' Airlangga said.
As of March, the value of trade between Indonesia and the EAEU stood at $1.6 billion, 85% more than the same period last year, Indonesia's coordinating ministry for economic affairs said.
The EAEU is already one of Indonesia's biggest palm oil buyers, with imports valued at $544.64 million in 2023.
The EAEU's main exports to the Southeast Asian nation include fertilisers and ferro-alloys.
The completion of Indonesia-EAEU FTA talks was announced on Thursday during President Prabowo Subianto's visit to Russia this week for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The EAEU has five members: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
24 minutes ago
- The Star
India aghast at Trump's ‘dead' economy jibe, 25% tariffs
NEW DELHI: Shock, dismay and angst swept across India as businesses, policymakers and citizens digested US President Donald Trump's sharp remarks and a surprise 25% tariff rate earlier this week. While Indian government officials weighed a response and business groups tallied the cost of the trade barrier, the local social media flared up with users protesting Trump's comments and criticising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking up. It started with Trump saying that India's trade barriers were the "most strenuous and obnoxious,' in a Truth Social post July 30. He added the US may also impose a penalty for New Delhi's purchase of Russian weapons and energy. Less than a day later, he ripped into India again for aligning with Russia, calling them "dead economies' in another post. With no imminent trade deal, the 25% tariffs kicked in as of Friday. India is hardly alone in facing Trump's trade wrath - and not the subject to the very highest rates - but the news left business and political leaders wondering how to cope with the fallout. "Overnight, the US-India trade equation shifted from tense to turbulent,' said Akshat Garg, assistant vice president at Choice Wealth, a Mumbai based financial services firm. The levies "feel less like structured policy and more like a blunt-force political message.' Complicating the narrative around the India trade deal - or the lack of it - was the US pact with its traditional rival Pakistan that came through on the same day. As the US released rates across the world on Aug. 1, India's relative disadvantage to competitor exporting countries became more apparent, dampening moods and stoking tempers further. "The biggest blow is that Pakistan and Bangladesh got a better rate than us,' V. Elangovan, managing director at SNQS Internationals, an apparel maker in the south Indian manufacturing hub of Tirupur, told Bloomberg News. "We were expecting something in the 15 to 20% range.' India's annoyance can be traced back in part to Trump declaring himself the peacemaker that helped broker a ceasefire in the armed conflict between India and Pakistan in May. The move was seen as an effort to upstage Modi and put the two South Asian neighbours on an equal footing, despite India's larger military and economy. The events of this week have cemented that impression further in the eyes of some Indian observers. When the tariff rate news first dropped in late Wednesday evening in India, Ashish Kanodia recalls being "very disturbed.' A director at Kanodia Global, a closely held exporter that gets over 40% of its revenue from the US selling home fabrics to toys, the entrepreneur already has two of its largest US customers seeking discounts to make up for the levy. "The next six months are going to be difficult for everyone,' Kanodia said, adding that profit margins will be squeezed. If the pain continues for "months and months,' he said he'll have to start cutting his workforce. The US is India's largest trading partner, with the two-way trade between them at an estimated US$129.2 billion in 2024. Compared with India's 25%, Bangladesh was subjected to a 20% tariff, Vietnam got a 20% levy and Indonesia and Pakistan each received 19% duties. "We know that we have got a deal that is worse than other countries,' said Sabyasachi Ray, executive director at The Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council. "We will take it up with the government.' Trump's actions mark a 180-degree turn for New Delhi's hopes of preferential treatment over regional peers. It was among the first to engage Washington in trade talks in February, confident of hammering out a deal sooner than others. Trump had called India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi "my friend' in a Feb 14 post on X and the bond between the two countries "special.' India is now weighing options to placate the White House, including boosting US imports, Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar with the matter, and many hope that the bilateral relationship and the tariff rate can still be improved. "It is a storm in the India-US relationship at this moment but I think there's a good chance that it will go away,' Vivek Mishra, deputy director of the Strategic Studies Programme at Delhi based Observer Researcher Foundation, told Bloomberg News. Indian business and trade groups are supporting the government's stance on the deal as the negotiations for a US-India trade deal continue. Jewelry businesses "are worried but they are not panicking' because they hope a more favourable deal can be worked out, said Ray of the gems export body. "The negotiation that should be happening should be a win-win, not a win-lose.' The abrupt announcement by Trump over social media when negotiations with India were ongoing "seems like a knee-jerk reaction,' according to Rohit Kumar, founding partner at public policy research firm The Quantum Hub. "This appears to be a negotiating tactic aimed at unresolved discussion points,' Kumar said. - Bloomberg
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
US envoy promises Gaza food plan after deadly aid queues
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months. The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27 – 105 of them in the last two days of July. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near GHF sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. Witkoff said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza, in an online post accompanied by a photograph of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a GHF distribution centre. The visit intended to give Trump "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza," Witkoff said. Trump echoed this in a phone call with US news site Axios touting a plan to "get people fed." "We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago," Trump said according to Axios. The US president did not say whether his plan would involve reinforcing GHF or a whole new mechanism, the report said. The GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza just as Israel in late May began easing a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages. The foundation said it had delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza during the visit by Witkoff and US ambassador Mike Huckabee. Gaza's civil defence agency said 22 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid. In its report on the GHF centres, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of using starvation as a weapon of war. "Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families," said HRW's associate crisis and conflict director, Belkis Wille. "US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths." The Israeli military said in response that the GHF worked independently, but that troops operated near aid sites "to enable the orderly delivery of food" while trying to "minimise... any friction between the civilian population" and its forces. The military accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution, and said it was conducting a review of reported deaths. Witkoff on Thursday held talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized in the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack that triggered the war. But Netanyahu is under mounting international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and threatened many more with famine. Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who warned that "the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination." Wadephul urged Israel "to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality." In an investigative report published on Friday, British public broadcaster the BBC said it had gathered accounts from witnesses, medics and other sources of more than 160 children shot in the war, including 95 hit in the head or chest, some by Israeli forces. Responding in a statement to AFP, the Israeli military said any "intentional harm to civilians, and especially to children, is strictly prohibited" by international law and the army's orders. Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. After Witkoff's Gaza visit, the armed wing of Hamas released a short online video showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David, looking emaciated and weak in a narrow concrete tunnel.--AFP
Daily Express
2 hours ago
- Daily Express
Sultan Ibrahim's 2025 state visit to Russia marks historic moment
Published on: Saturday, August 02, 2025 Published on: Sat, Aug 02, 2025 By: Bernama Text Size: In Moscow, Sultan Ibrahim will receive a state welcome ceremony at the Kremlin, followed by an official meeting with Putin. Kuala Lumpur: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, will make history as the first Malaysian Head of State to conduct an official visit to Russia from August 5 to 10, 2025. The visit comes at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Istana Negara confirmed the visit in a statement, highlighting its significance in reinforcing diplomatic relations established in 1967. 'This visit also reflects the important role of the Malaysian monarchy in advancing the nation's diplomacy,' the statement said. The trip aims to expand cooperation in trade, higher education, technology, and innovation while fostering stronger people-to-people ties. As ASEAN Chair in 2025, Malaysia will also leverage the visit to enhance strategic cooperation with Russia, an ASEAN Dialogue Partner since 1996. In Moscow, Sultan Ibrahim will receive a state welcome ceremony at the Kremlin, followed by an official meeting with Putin. A state banquet hosted by the Russian President will also take place. His Majesty's itinerary includes visits to the Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute (NAMI) and the Tochka Kipeniya Technology and Innovation Hub. The King will then proceed to Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan, a Muslim-majority autonomous region of Russia. There, he will meet with Rais Rustam Minnikhanov and tour a helicopter manufacturing facility. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
