Indonesia must join TPP trade deal or risk being "left behind": trade minister

Indonesia must join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal or risk being overtaken by neighbours such as Vietnam, the trade minister said on Tuesday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 24, 201511:52 AM

[JAKARTA] Indonesia must join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal or risk being overtaken by neighbours such as Vietnam, the trade minister said on Tuesday.

"We don't have a choice," Trade Minister Tom Lembong said at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that Vietnam had joined the TPP and recently formed another trade deal with Europe. "We have already heard many Indonesian factories that have closed and moved to Vietnam."

During a US visit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said last month that Southeast Asia's largest economy plans to join the TOP deal that the United States has already signed with 11 other countries.

REUTERS