University of Pelita Harapan Hope Center for International Trade and Investment (UPH CITI) with UPH Faculty of Law discussed the efforts needed to strengthen the economic relations between ASEAN-MERCOSUR through a seminar themed ‘Towards Deeper Economic Cooperation’. This seminar was conducted on October 25, 2018 at UPH Education Executive Center (EEC) and was attended by more than 75 participants, who came from various different backgrounds such as embassies, professionals, students, researchers, and academics.
This seminar was a collaboration with Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, MERCOSUR ASEAN Chamber of Commerce, and Universidad Católica del Uruguay. In addition, H.E. Argentine ambassador in Indonesia – Ricardo Luis Bocalandro, Ambassador of Indonesia to Argentina – H.E. Niniek Kun Naryatie, President of The MERCOSUR ASEAN Chamber of Commerce – Rodolfo Caffaro Kramer, Former Ambassador of Indonesia in Buenos Aires – Jonny Sinaga, Director for ASEAN External Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Benny Y.P. Siahaan, Director General of International Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Damos Dumoli Agusman, Ambassador Mulya Wirana, and UPH Law Lecturer – Jessica Los Banos also attended this seminar.

In his greeting, H.E. Ricardo Luis Bocalandro invited all ASEAN countries to work together with MERCOSUR so that the relation inter the organization will be deeper and not limited to only communication and negotiation. Not only that, Ricardo also explained MERCOSUR as a customs union in detail, starting from history, members, structure, until the MERCOSUR integration process.
In the beginning, this seminar firstly discussed 3 cooperation issues identified by the panel, such as 1) ASEAN-MERCOSUR complementary, (2) modalities to strengthen cooperation, and (3) the role of institutions that support the trading.

Besides the problems, the Indonesian Ambassador to Argentina, H.E. Niniek Kun Naryatie also described some challenges that must be faced. Some of the challenges are trade policies in each region, relations or connectivity between one individual and another, and the lack of mechanism that facilitate business communication.

Looking at these problems and challenges, Niniek emphasized that the main purpose of ASEAN-MERCOSUR is looking for further ways to strengthen the cooperation between regions continuously, especially related to the fields of trade, investment and economy.

Supporting Niniek’s view, the Ambassador Mulya Wirana stated that in this current era of modern technology, it is easier to facilitate relations or connectivity between individuals. According to him, to achieve the goals of ASEAN-MERCOSUR integration, the two regions must identify the focus of FTA (goods trading, investment, supply chains, etc.) and analyze FTA coverage between the two regions cooperatively.

Therefore, through this seminar, it was concluded that to achieve ASEAN-MERCOSUR’s goal of strengthening the economic relations between ASEAN and MERCOSUR member countries, it is necessary to increase interaction between individuals to develop and strengthen the ligament between regions. Comprehensive methods also needed to be identified and emphasized in the Free Trade Agreement.

Besides that, Benny Y.P. Siahaan also added that it is important to understand the various opportunities that can be offered by ASEAN MERCOSUR cooperation, among others to support multilateralism and dialogue with external partners. This cooperation can be applied to various fields, such as micro, small and medium enterprises, trade and investment, renewable energy, agriculture, and infrastructure.

With the comprehensive discussion, Director of UPH CITI – Dr. Michelle Limenta stated that this discussion platform was important to bring together various parties.
“”This event becomes a platform for discussion that brings together various parties such as the government, academics, private sector, to be able to share thoughts on the opportunities and challenges of ASEAN-MEROSUR regional cooperation,”” said Dr. Michelle.
This seminar can be the first step for ASEAN-MERCOSUR to move towards a better cooperation in the future and hopes to be able to strengthen multilateral relations between the countries in ASEAN and the countries in South American that are members of MERCOSUR.