Japan targets Indonesia trade pact during Abe visit

JAKARTA, June 7 (Reuters) Japan hopes to sign a free trade pact with Indonesia when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Jakarta in August, the Japanese embassy said on Thursday.

But the deal still needs Indonesia to come up with a foreign investment list in line with its newly passed investment law, said Satoru Satoh, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese embassy.

''We are now in the final stage of the negotiation. We hope it can be finalised as soon as possible so that it can be signed when Prime Minister Abe visits Indonesia,'' he told a news conference.

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which includes elements of free trade, will eventually end import taxes on more than 90 percent of the trade between the two countries, Japanese trade officials have said.

Satoh said Abe would also discuss ways to tackle issues such as terrorism and climate change during his visit.

No exact date has been set for the trip, Satoh said.

The EPA aims to end tariffs on about 93 percent of the goods Japan imports from Indonesia, such as industrial products, fruit and shrimps, within seven years after it is signed, Japanese officials have said.

Japan imported goods from Indonesia worth about 2.3 trillion yen ($19 billion) in 2005.

It is Indonesia's biggest customer for exports and ranks second among Indonesia's sources for imports, according to U.S.

Central Intelligence Agency data.

About 90 percent of the goods Indonesia imports from Japan, such as electronics products, cars, machinery and certain kinds of steel products, will become duty-free.

Indonesia imported about $8.65 billion of goods from Japan in 2005, Japanese government data showed.

($1=121.25 yen) REUTERS PV VV1733