Jakarta (ANTARA) - ASEAN, being chaired by Indonesia, and Russia, on Monday, reaffirmed their commitment to the rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, and free multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core.SEAN Economic Ministers held the meeting with the Russian delegation at the 12th ASEAN Economic Ministers-Russian Consultation in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday. The Consultation was co-chaired by Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and Nikita Kondratyev as the Director-General of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. During the meeting, both parties highlighted support to strengthen the WTO and ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose and forward-looking by pursuing reforms to improve all its functions, according to a joint media statement. The ASEAN and Russia also support the body to have a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all WTO members by 2024. They also expressed their determination to collaborate and coordinate on areas of common interest and contribute to the success of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) that is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, in 2024. In November 2019, the European Union (EU) had filed a lawsuit with the WTO against Indonesia's policy banning nickel ore exports that was considered detrimental to the nickel industry in the EU countries. Indonesia's nickel ore exports' ban policy, which came into effect in early 2020, aims to develop domestic downstream industries related to nickel commodities, as well as, to attract more investment in the nickel downstream industry, mainly related to the electric battery industry. In November 2022, the WTO's dispute settlement body announced that Indonesia had violated the regulations. The Indonesian government has repeatedly stated that it will strive to preserve the nation's downstreaming policy despite the dispute over its nickel ore export ban. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, had stated in June that the government will continue to defend Indonesia's right to obtain added value from commodities and phase out nickel exports.
Source: Antara News Agency