JAPAN'S ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JAPAN - INDONESIA ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (JIEPA) (2003-2008)

Abstract

The fear of being excluded from the global economic trading outside the traditional WTO negotiations, such as, Free Trade Area and Economic Partnership Agreement has led Japan to have rearrangement on its policies of international economic. Japan has been promoting on establishing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with other countries. The model of EPA is advantageous for Japan as it is easier for the policy-makers to reserve some accounts in protecting certain economic sector while in the same time negotiating on the liberalization of specific sector that feels the need to be more competitive in a larger scale and reform the structures. The strategic priorities for Japan in finding partners in doing EPA are being judged from the country's economic, geographic, feasibility, time-related, and political and diplomatic criteria, and Japan saw Indonesia as a country that would fit to be the perfect partner. Japan and Indonesia has enjoyed complementary relations and interdependent economic ties, so the proposal from Japan was received well by Indonesia. This thesis hence analyzes the strategy of Japan in performing their economic diplomacy towards the establishment of Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement.