Southeast Asia

Apr 6, 2006

US, Indonesia to fight illegal logging

WASHINGTON DC - The governments of Indonesia and the United States have agreed to cooperate in fighting against illegal logging in Indonesian forests.

The agreement was made at a meeting between the visiting Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and Chief of the US Trade Office (USTR) Robert Portman.

In a joint press conference, Portman said this was a unique chance for the US to strengthen its cooperation with Indonesia in protecting the country's forest and habitat which have been influenced by the illegal logging.

The first cooperation in the fight against illegal logging between the US was discussed under the umbrella of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

Previously, senior officials' level meeting took place before Portman and Mari meeting.

The USTR has previously said the cooperation would insure that legal timber from Indonesia would not get access to the US market.

Environmentalists in the US have often urged the their government to pay attention to where imported timber or timber products had come from.

The two sides also discussed many other issues related to trade cooperation, including how to cooperate to succeed in the negotiations at the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WHO), Portman said.

He added the Indonesian economy was the biggest in the Southeast Asian region and as the main exporter of agriculture and industrial products, Indonesia would get many advantages from the success of the Doha Round.

(ANTARA/Asia Pulse)

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