To strengthen and enhance economic cooperation, including trade and investment, ASEAN countries and China agreed to free trade agreements. Ratification of cooperation related stipulated in Presidential Decree No. 48 of 2004.
ASEAN economic cooperation, China is expected to improve the welfare of the people in their respective countries. In order to realize the big dream, agreed to reduce trade barriers so as to create trade with lower cost. In addition, also agreed to increase trade and intra-regional investment and improve economic efficiency.
Steps to achieve that, among other things, with the progressive elimination of tariff barriers and trade nontarif in all things. Liberalization of trade in goods and services progressively with a significant sector coverage. So, where is the position of the agricultural sector in the ASEAN-China FTA is this?
Free Trade Agreement ASEAN-China (FTA) for the agricultural sector is actually a reaction to the breakdown of negotiations related to the liberalization of the agricultural sector in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
It is difficult for Indonesia to reject this free trade agreement. Denial will only make isolated from Indonesia regional trade stage. On the other hand, reject the ASEAN-China FTA is not automatically going to make a strong domestic economy.
Without accepting the ASEAN-China FTA too, would be inundated Indonesia imported products from China, which entered through the ASEAN countries other, which previously had been tied to regional cooperation.
Meanwhile, when Indonesia was involved in the ASEAN-China FTA, also not without problems. Indonesia, with 230 million inhabitants, is a very big market for commodities and products in China. Prior to the ASEAN-China FTA implemented, various products from China are flooding the Indonesian domestic market.
Many Indonesian commodities and products that are difficult to compete with imported products from China. In fact, the industry producing these products, as well as the cultivation of agricultural commodities, become the foundation of life of millions of people of Indonesia.
As a nation, Indonesia did not need to lose heart against this wave of free trade as long as all the “homework” that is, since the ratification was signed in 2004, done and done well. That homework is to increase capacity and production quality so that the competitiveness of commodities and products of Indonesia increased.
Minister of Agriculture Suswono states, the ASEAN-China FTA is a policy that was agreed upon. Therefore, a better effort when faced with increased capacity, production, and quality of Indonesian agricultural commodities. This was necessary because Indonesia can not survive forever strategy. Sooner or later, free trade will happen.
Therefore, the government will encourage greater export competitiveness of superior agricultural products, such as oil palm, rubber, chocolate, mangosteen, salak, pineapple, and other horticultural commodities.
For plantation subsector, perhaps Indonesia does not need to worry. Balance of trade in Indonesian plantation products-China post-EHP (early harvest program / acceleration of the reduction or elimination of tariffs) is positive and rising.
In the year 2004 the trade balance of plantation products-China Indonesia surplus only 763.63 million U.S. dollars, year 2008 rose by almost three-fold to 2.757 billion U.S. dollars.
According to the Director General of Processing and Marketing of Agricultural Products Ministry of Agriculture Dennis Bacharuddin, from 20 main agricultural commodities exported to China, Indonesia, dominated by plantation commodities. Commodities in the form of primary commodities or processed products.
Plantation commodities that dominate Indonesia’s exports are palm oil, palm kernel oil, rubber, SIR 20, a rubber sheet, oil, copra, cocoa and half-broken broken, polybutadiene styrene rubber (SBR), margarine rather than canned, with a mixture of ammonia rubber, rubber with a mixture silica, as well as roasted coffee does not contain caffeine.
Blow
In contrast to the plantation, food crops, horticulture, and livestock instead faced a serious challenge. Yet these subsectors become the foundation of life most of the people of Indonesia.
Balance of trade in food crops in Indonesia, China 2004 deficit of 43.031 million U.S. dollars. In 2008 the deficit ballooned to U.S. $ 109.531 million.
Horticultural commodity trade balance deficit of U.S. $ 150.282 million (2004) and the 2008 deficit of U.S. $ 434.403 million. The livestock commodity trade balance deficit in 2004 U.S. dollars 7.798 million, and in 2008 became a deficit 17.948 million U.S. dollars.
Although the aggregate trade balance surplus in Indonesia increased, it does not necessarily encourage greater welfare of Indonesian society. Moreover, the three sub-sectors of the hangers having lived the majority of the blows.
Ministry of Agriculture data show, in 2009 the amount of labor in plantation sub-sector is only 19.7 million people or 45.7 percent of total agricultural labor force.
Of the 19.7 million people, only about 8 million people are absorbed in the oil palm and rubber. The rest of the other plantation commodities. Oil palm and rubber plantations cultivated more large, both state and private property.
As for food crops, horticulture, and livestock to absorb more than 30 million workers. Thus, errors in conducting the governance of three subsectors of agriculture that will directly mengimbas on economy joints masses.
Therefore, it is time the government made major steps to accelerate the development of the agricultural sector at any cost. Without the free trade of ASEAN-China will become the gate only the misery of the people.
