Japan and Indonesia have signed a free trade agreement that will see tariffs lifted on the movement of forest products.
The Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement will come into force in early 2008, removing tariffs from 96% of Japanese exports and from 92% of Indonesia exports, including all forest products.
“We believe that a closer economic partnership between Japan and Indonesia will promote mutually beneficial economic ties between the two countries,” said Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and Dr Susilo Yudhoyono, president of the Republic of Indonesia, in a joint statement.
The agreement will also see the two countries look to develop their ability to process small diameter logs, as well as cut the growth of greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end.
