EU and Indonesia announce 'political agreement' on trade deal

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  • EU and Indonesia announce 'political agreement' on trade deal

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a "political agreement" to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce.

The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia's largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment. A European Commission statement called Sunday's agreement a "decisive milestone" towards striking the deal -- which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia's chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto.

Prabowo called the announcement in Brussels a "breakthrough". He said, "After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which basically is a free trade agreement ".

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