October 28, 2022
JAKARTA – The United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai has praised Indonesia’s presidency of the Group of Twenty saying that it has maintained a steady course during turbulence in world politics.
“We appreciate what Indonesia has done in holding the G20 presidency especially in the midst of the current global crisis,” Tai said during a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, based on a read-out provided by the minister’s office.
Airlangga was in Washington earlier this week to talk with Tai and others on a number of issues including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) proposed by the administration of US President Joe Biden.
In her statement, Tai added that the US also backed Indonesia’s leadership of ASEAN next year.
In his response to Tai’s statement, Airlangga called on the US to back Indonesia’s efforts to come up with a leaders’ declaration in the coming summit in Bali in November.
“The leaders’ declaration will be the pinnacle of the G20 Summit in Bali and the Indonesian government expects that the tangible result from this year’s forum will exceed what we have achieved in previous G20 summits,” Airlangga said.
In his previous meeting with Tai in September, Airlangga pledged Indonesia’s support for the US’ initiative to set up an Indo-Pacific trade arrangement.
In his statement Airlangga said that Indonesia “appreciated and supported” the US-led initiative and would join negotiations in all four pillars promoted under the framework.
The senior minister joined fellow economic ministers from 13 Indo-Pacific countries to start negotiations on the IPEF, Washington’s first major pan-Asian trade engagement effort in nearly a decade.