India raises market access, barriers issue with Indonesia

India today raised the issue of market access and regulatory barriers that its companies are facing in Indonesia in sectors such as pharma, dairy and bovine meat, the commerce ministry said today.
The issues were discussed during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and his Indonesian counterpart Enggartiasto Lukita here.
The ministry in a statement said that the Indonesian side has agreed to conduct inspection visits for registering dairy products, fresh food of plant origin and meat processing facilities.
"The issue of market access to automotive and auto components manufactured in India was raised, along with the greater investment opportunities for joint ventures, textile machinery manufacturing, textile parks and Special Economic Zones," it said.

It added that the ministers agreed to deepen economic cooperation by having greater cooperation of stakeholders, including government, business and entrepreneurs.
Both the ministers "agreed to hold a meeting of regulators to resolve issues concerning the pharma and health sectors, it said.

Further the ministers agreed for convening early meeting of the working groups on trade and investment; and trade facilitation and remedies to address the issues impeding trade.
"These working groups will also look into facilitation of services and areas of mutual interest between both the countries," it said.
"We agreed to promote business on both sides which will benefit our citizens. We also agreed to explore new areas of cooperation," Prabhu said in a tweet.

Talking to reporters, he said both the sides agreed to work together to promote business, exports and imports.
"We have already identified areas where there are certain issues ... so we have decided to set up working groups to address those issues immediately," he said.
Lukita said that he had a frank and open meeting with the Indian trade minister.
He said that working groups can discuss issues over video calls. If there is anything to resolve at minister's level, "we can call each other also," he added.
The bilateral trade between the countries increased to USD 16.92 billion in 2016-17 from USD 15.95 billion in the previous fiscal. The trade is highly in the favour of Indonesia.