Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged trade officials to accelerate negotiations with their Japanese counterparts on a proposed economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the two countries so that a deal could be signed by the end of this year.

"The President hopes the EPA negotiations can be completed by the end of this year," presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal was quoted Saturday by The Jakarta Post newspaper as saying.

Indonesia and Japan agreed in July last year to begin working toward the signing of an EPA, a comprehensive bilateral economic agreement that would include not only the liberalization of trade in goods and services, but also cooperation in the fields of investment, competition policies and the movement of people.

The two sides have engaged in several rounds of negotiations to date.

Although the negotiations between Japan and other countries for similar agreements took about two years to complete, the hope has been expressed by both sides that the talks can be accelerated to show to the world that they are serious about the plan.

Japan is Indonesia's largest trading partner. Two-way trade amounted to 24.9 billion U.S. dollars last year, with an 11.1 billion dollars surplus in Indonesia's favor.

Dino said that the Indonesian government had also invited Japan to assist the development of bioenergy production plants.

Source: Xinhua