JAKARTA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita said on Tuesday the target to complete the China-backed trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), was 2017.
"We want to conclude this agreement as scheduled, especially in the middle of this uncertainty with Brexit and so on," Lukita told reporters. Indonesia is hosting a round of negotiations in the capital Jakarta for RCEP, which includes Australia, India and more than a dozen other countries.
RCEP is now seen as one of the few paths to a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledged to withdraw the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).