- Korea and Indonesia signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for Electromagnetic Compatibility Assessment Phase 1
The Ministry of Science and ICT (“MSIT”; Minister: Lee Jong-ho) announced on Monday, May 27, that Vice Minister Kang Dohyun of the MSIT and Vice Minister Nezar Patria of Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Informatics (MCI) signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for the first phase of the ICT Sector Conformity Assessment (“Conformity Assessment”).
The MRA was signed on May 27 in Jakarta at the bilateral meeting with Indonesia's Vice Minister of Communication and Informatics during the Public-Private Digital Trade Delegation’s visit to Indonesia.
The MSIT has been negotiating with the Indonesian government since 2018 to conclude the MRA to reduce the inconvenience and cost burden experienced by Korean ICT companies when exporting their products; however, due to differences in positions between the two countries and the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiations were suspended in early 2020. In order to resolve the difficulties faced by exporters due to Indonesia's recent strengthening of regulations, negotiations resumed in 2023 and resulted in Indonesia becoming the first country to sign an MRA for electromagnetic wave conformity assessment.
※ South Korea signed MRA Phase 1 with 31 countries, including the United States, Vietnam, Chile, the United Kingdom, and the EU (27 countries), and Phase 2 with Canada.
Indonesia boasts the world's fourth-largest population (approximately 280 million, 2023), with a steady economic growth rate (5.0%, 2023) over the past five years, and the highest GDP in ASEAN (USD 1.3712 trillion in 2023), making it a major export destination for Korean companies and a gateway to ASEAN.
Indonesia is also an emerging ICT powerhouse that grew its ICT industry by more than 13% to $42 billion in 2023 alone (compared to Korea's 9.6%, $59.3 billion), and the demand for Korean ICT products is constantly increasing, so local ICT companies have long hoped to sign this MRA.
Countries around the world operate electromagnetic compatibility evaluation systems to check whether electromagnetic waves from ICT devices and equipment affect other devices or human body, in accordance with their own technical standards before they are distributed. In order to export, ICT companies must undergo testing and certification according to different technical standards and conformity assessment procedures in each country. As these technical regulations are acting as a kind of trade barrier, governments are promoting the signing of MRAs with major export destinations to simplify export procedures and reduce costs for their companies.
With the conclusion of the first phase of the MRA, Korean companies will be able to export their products immediately after the Indonesian government certifies the compatibility assessment test report received in Korea, which will shorten the time to market and reduce the cost of testing by 65% (previously KRW 7.2 million → KRW 4.8 million after the MRA), thereby increasing the global competitiveness of Korean ICT products.