A trade agreement between Japan and Southeast Asian countries (including Indonesia) had been floated as an idea by then Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi during his visit to
Jakarta in January 2002, when he briefed Indonesian President
Megawati Sukarnoputri. Further talks were conducted between the two when Megawati visited
Tokyo in June 2003. Following a brief interruption due to the
2004 Indonesian presidential election which saw Megawati's replacement with
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the agreement's progress continued in December 2004 when both countries agreed to form a "study group" to explore a potential
free trade agreement. Findings of the study group were published in May 2005, and it recommended negotiations to be conducted in parallel with the agreement between Japan and the
ASEAN. A joint communique following a meeting by Yudhoyono and Koizumi on 2 June 2005 announced the initiation of negotiations. By November 2006, both governments announced that an agreement has been reached "in principle", though the seventh and final round of negotiations would only occur in June 2007. Japan's cabinet approved the terms of the bilateral agreement on 10 August, and the agreement was signed on 20 August 2007 in Jakarta. The treaty came into force on 1 July 2008.
Renegotiations As part of the agreement, a general review is mandated within five years, and the Indonesian government called for one in 2013. Negotiations continued throughout 2018 and 2019, with an initial target of completing negotiations by the end of 2019. As of January 2020, negotiations still continued on a renewed agreement. ==References==