KBRN, St. Petersburg: The free trade agreement (FTA) between Indonesia and the Eurasian Economic Union has been described as a New Year’s gift for the countries involved. Indonesian Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, Fadjroel Rachman, made the statement on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

“This is the best New Year’s gift for the people of Kazakhstan and Indonesia,” he said, adding that the agreement represents a new wave of trade globalization, a “golden bridge” linking Indonesia and Eurasia.

Indonesia was represented by Trade Minister Budi Santoso at the signing ceremony in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 21–22, 2025. Ambassador Fadjroel noted that opening the Eurasian market would bring significant benefits to Indonesia and aligns with President Prabowo’s Asta Cita vision.

“Over the past year, all parties have worked hard and collaborated to finalize this FTA,” he said, highlighting contributions from Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and Foreign Minister Sugiono alongside Trade Minister Budi Santoso.

Minister Budi Santoso emphasized that the agreement will open, expand, and diversify Indonesia’s export markets while attracting new sources of investment, particularly in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

The FTA consists of 15 chapters covering market access, trade facilitation, and economic cooperation. It formalizes preferential tariffs on up to 90.5 percent of Indonesian products, representing 95.1 percent of total Eurasian imports.

“Exports of Indonesian products will increase,” Santoso said, citing palm oil and its derivatives, cocoa, coffee, consumer goods, footwear, textiles, furniture, and electronics among the key beneficiaries.

The agreement also paves the way for Eurasian products to enter the Indonesian market, including fertilizers, iron, crude petroleum, and other commodities.

In addition to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, the memorandum of understanding was signed by officials from other Eurasian countries including Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. (Gusti Panji/Sri Wahyuni)