Canberra and Melbourne, Australia - CSIS Indonesia has taken a series of visits to Canberra and Melbourne, Australia, on April 15-18, 2024, to participate in the Trade Policy Workshop and to visit CSIS’ counterparts, including the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS), Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, and the Australia National University Indonesia Project.
The Trade Policy Workshop was held by the Productivity Commission (PC) and the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER), to rebuild trade modelling capacity in the region. The Australia  National  University and  the  National  Institution  for  Transforming  India  (NITI Aayog) are also partners in this cooperative endeavour through EABER.
In  the  workshop,  CSIS  Indonesia  outlines  the  potential  prospects  and  challenges for Indonesia's economy as  it  pertains  to joining  The  Comprehensive  and  Progressive Agreement  for  Trans-Pacific  Partnership  (CPTPP).  Executive  Director  CSIS Indonesia, Yose Rizal Damuri, explained, that the discussion serves as a forum for discussion and advancement of the ongoing project, which has started its comprehensive study into the evolving trade dynamics in East Asia.
“The workshop was significant in providing input on scenarios and policy context of Indonesia joining CPTPP. As one of the leading think tanks in Indonesia and in the region, CSIS is therefore taking part in this, to address the grounding of assumptions, appropriateness of modelling approaches,  and provide suggestions  for  future  policy  scenarios  and enhancement.” Damuri concluded.
The workshop continued the next day (17/4) with a meeting with the Productivity Commission to exchange views on international trade in the region and institutions’ initiatives and report updates regarding the ongoing trade modeling and research. This discussion also involves experts  from  PC,  including  Danielle  Wood,  the  Chair,  and  Catherine  de  Fontenay,  the Commissioner of PC.
On the same day (17/4), CSIS also carried a meeting with with Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS), Victoria University, to discuss updates on the ongoing trade-climate modelling project under the Decarbonization for Development (DfD) Lab with the CoPS’ experts. This includes potential institutional partnerships in improving modelling capacity in CSIS and Indonesia and research collaborations in the future.
Subsequently, the trip also involved informal meetings with the Indonesia Project of The Australia National University (15/4), and concluded with a meeting with Siswo Pramono, Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, and Mukhamad Najib, Indonesian Educational and Cultural Attache, in Canberra Australia (18/4).