Indonesia and Australia relations continue to be stronger following a defense deal signed during the recent visit by Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Indonesia. The visit and deal underscore a maturing strategic partnership between the two countries.
For business communities, this is not just diplomatic news. This is a strong signal of the opening of economic, business, and people-to-people cooperation that has been established for 75 years.
In Indonesian and Australian business, there is the Indonesia Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) which came into effect on July 5, 2020, meaning that Indonesia and Australia will celebrate 6 years of IA CEPA in 2026.
IA-CEPA provides a framework for businesses, communities and individuals in both countries to use the potential of inclusion as most tariff barriers are removed. IA-CEPA is a different Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as a comprehensive partnership that contains not only trade agreements on goods, services and investments, but also broader economic cooperation in the field of economic capacity building, including the quality of human resources. In the form of investment, technical assistance, capacity building and knowledge and technology transfer. IA CEPA opens up opportunities for Indonesian family businesses and MSMEs to penetrate the Australian market more efficiently and vice versa and encourage regional supply chain integration.
In the IA CEPA agreement, Indonesia received commitments that were not given by other Australian partner countries, including the following:
– Ease of access to the automotive market, especially electric and hybrid
cars- Gradual increase in the quota of Work and Holiday Visa to 5000 per year for Indonesian
Citizens- Australian investment in vocational education and higher education so that Indonesian graduates can have international
– Apprenticeship and visa guarantee program for 200 people per year in Australian
companies- Expert labor exchange program to Australia so that Indonesian skilled workers can improve their
skills- Commitment to achieve mutual recognition agreements in the engineering profession
– Measurable and sustainable/long-term economic cooperation in various sectors, e.g. in the food sector (grain partnership, Red Meat Partnership, Food Innovation Center).
In addition to business, Australia and Indonesia also have a good relationship in education, where Australia is the main destination of choice for Indonesian students who want to continue their studies abroad. Around 20,000 per year, Indonesian students come and study in Australia which is known as the down under.
The Australian government consistently offers Australia Awards Scholarships, full scholarships for Indonesians to pursue undergraduate and graduate studies at leading Australian universities. The program focuses not only on academics, but also on leadership, global networking, and cross-cultural understanding.
Kultur Voice Business recommends Indonesian students to study in Melbourne, which is famous for its four seasons in one day so they should always read the weather forecast and bring an umbrella. Melbourne is recommended to study because:
– Multicultural with a wide variety of arts events in this beautiful city.
– The sports capital of Australia because it often holds major sporting events such as the Australian Open, Australian Grand Prix and AFL finals. Every first Tuesday in November, Melbournians take a break to come to the Melbource Cup wearing traditional clothes and watching horse races.
– Coffee culture, especially with many local coffee shops, with flat white, siphon, cold drip menus, and so on.
– Excellent transportation system with trains to the suburbs and trams side by side with public roads.
– Melbourne is also home to prestigious universities in Australia.
There is one more thing that is very important when studying in Australia, which is a good opportunity to understand Australia’s egalitarian and democratic culture and system. Visit the Australia Awards Indonesia link https://www.australiaawardsindonesia.org/content/1000276/12/lpdp-australia-awards-scholarships?sub=true
If this perspective sparked a new idea for how you lead, build, or live, explore more stories on Kultur Voice Business or KVB.global — where global perspectives meet local living. Keep the conversation going by sharing this article with a colleague or friend and browse related posts to deepen your next decision.
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