(e) security in electronic communications;
(f) electronic authentication;
(g) intellectual property;
(h) challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises in digital trade; and
(i) digital government.
2. The Parties have a shared vision to promote secure digital trade and recognise that threats to cybersecurity undermine confidence in the digital economy. Accordingly, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate to:
(a) build the capabilities of their government agencies responsible for computer security incident response;
(b) use existing collaboration mechanisms to cooperate to identify and mitigate malicious intrusions or dissemination of malicious code that affect the electronic net-works of the Parties; and
(c) develop a workforce in the area of cybersecurity, including possible initiatives relating to mutual recognition of qualifications, diversity and equality.
3. Each Party shall endeavor to cooperate to:
(a) assist small and medium enterprises to overcome obstacles in the use of digital trade;
(b) identify areas for targeted cooperation between the Parties which will help the Parties implement or enhance their digital trade legal framework, such as research and training activities, capacity building, and the provision of technical assistance;
(c) share information, experiences, and best practices in addressing challenges related to the development and use of digital trade;
(d) encourage business sectors to develop methods or practices that enhance accountability and consumer confidence to foster the use of digital trade;
(e) actively participate in regional and multilateral fora to promote the development of digital trade; and
(f) foster an environment conducive to the further advancement of digital trade, including electronic commerce and the digital transformation of the global economy, by strengthening their bilateral relations on these matters.
4. The Parties shall endeavour to undertake forms of cooperation that build on and do not duplicate existing cooperation initiatives pursued in international fora.
Chapter 10. INVESTMENT
Article 10.1. Relation to the Bilateral Investment Agreement
The Parties reaffirm the Agreement Between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, done at Bogor, Indonesia on 24 July 2019 (“UAE-Indonesia Bilateral Investment Agreement”) and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Article 10.2. Objective
The Parties reaffirm their desire to promote an attractive investment climate that may contribute to, among others, the expansion of trade in goods and services under this Agreement.
Article 10.3. Cooperation and Facilitation of Investment
1. The Parties shall cooperate, to the extent possible, to promote and extend favourable conditions for foreign investment in their territory, in accordance with their laws and regulations, consistent with Article 5 (Promotion of Investments) of the UAE-Indonesia Bilateral Investment Agreement.
2. Cooperation as referred to in paragraph 1 may include:
(a) exchange of information on rules applicable to investment;
(b) identification of investment opportunities and activities to promote investment abroad, in particular partnerships involving small and medium-sized enterprises;
(c) encourage an investment climate conducive to investment flows; and
(d) facilitation, encouragement, and support for investments by the sovereign wealth funds of both countries.
Article 10.4. Committee on Investment
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Investment under the Joint Committee, which shall comprise representatives of the Parties.
2. The UAE side will be chaired by Under Secretary of the Ministry of Finance or the Authorized Representative and the Indonesian side will be chaired by Deputy Chairman of Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Board.
3. The Committee may establish working groups as the Parties deem necessary.
Article 10.5. Objective of the Committee on Investment
1. The objectives of the Committee on Investment are as follows:
(a) to promote and enhance economic cooperation and investment projects between the Parties;
(b) to monitor investment relations, to identify opportunities for expanding investment, and to identify issues relevant to investment that may be appropriate for negotiation in an appropriate forum;
(c) to hold consultations on specific investment matters of interest to the Parties;
(d) to work toward the enhancement of investment flows;
(e) to identify and work toward the removal of impediments to investment flows; and
(f) to seek the views of the private sector, where appropriate, on matters related to the work of the Committee.
2. The Committee may coordinate with any other committee in this Agreement, to address possible cross-cutting issues.
3. For further clarification, the Committee shall not undertake “Settlements of Investment Disputes between an Investor of a Contracting Party and the other Contracting Party” as established by the UAE-Indonesia Bilateral Investment Agreement, and, in particular, the role that the Joint Committee established by that Agreement plays with respect to Article 17 of that Agreement.
Article 10.6. Meetings of the Committee on Investment
1. The Committee on Investment shall meet at such times and venues as agreed by the Parties, but the Parties shall endeavour to meet no less than once a year.
2. A Party may refer a specific investment matter to the Committee on Investment by delivering a written request to the other Party that includes a description of the matter concerned.
3. The Committee on Investment shall take up the matter promptly after the request is delivered unless the requesting Party agrees to postpone discussion of the matter.
4. Each Party shall endeavour to provide for an opportunity for the Committee on Investment to discuss a matter before taking actions that could affect adversely the investment interests of the other Party.
Chapter 11. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Article 11.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) construction service means a service that has as its objective the realisation by whatever means of civil or building works, based on Division 51 of the United Nations Provisional Central Product Classification (CPC);
(b) government procurement means the process by which Ministries/Institutions obtain the use of or acquire goods or services, or any combination thereof, for governmental purposes and not with a view to commercial sale or resale or use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale, financed by the state budget or as provided in the respective Party’s laws and regulations governing such process;
(c) in writing or written means any worded or numbered expression that can be read, reproduced and may be later communicated, and may include electronically transmitted and stored information;
(d) limited tendering means a procurement method whereby the procuring entity contacts a supplier or suppliers of its choice;
(e) multi-use list means a list of suppliers that a procuring entity has determined satisfy the conditions for participation in that list, and that the procuring entity intends to use more than once;
(f) notice of intended procurement means a notice published by a procuring entity inviting interested suppliers to submit a request for participation, a tender, or both;
(g) open tendering means a procurement method whereby all interested suppliers may submit a tender;
(h) procuring entity means an entity undertaking government procurement pursuant to each Party’s laws and regulations governing government procurement, where expressly open to international competition;
(i) qualified supplier means a supplier that a procuring entity recognies as having satisfied the conditions for participation;
(j) selective tendering means a procurement method whereby the procuring entity invites only qualified suppliers to submit a tender;
(k) services include construction services, unless otherwise specified;
(l) supplier means a person or a group of persons that provides or could provide a good or service to a procuring entity; and (m) technical specification means a tendering requirement that:
(i) sets out the characteristics of:
(A) goods to be procured, including quality, performance, safety, and dimensions, or the processes and methods for their production, or
(B) services to be procured, or the processes or methods for their provision, including any applicable administrative provisions; or
(C) addresses terminology, symbols, packaging, marking, or labelling requirements, as they apply to a good or service.
Article 11.2. Objective
The Parties recognise the importance of promoting the transparency of laws, regulations, and procedures, and developing cooperation between the Parties, regarding government procurement.
Article 11.3. Scope
Application of Chapter
1. This Chapter applies to any measure regarding covered procurement.
2. For the purposes of this Chapter, covered procurement means government procurement where expressly open to international competition.
Activities Not Covered
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, this Chapter does not apply to:
(a) the acquisition or rental of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or the rights thereon;
(b) non-contractual agreements or any form of assistance that a Party, including its procuring entities, provides, including cooperative agreements, grants, loans, equity infusions, guarantees, subsidies, fiscal incentives and sponsorship arrangements;
(c) the procurement or acquisition of: fiscal agency or depository services; liquidation and management services for regulated financial institutions; or services related to the sale, redemption and distribution of public debt, including loans and government bonds, notes and other securities;
(d) public employment contracts;
(e) procurement:
(i) conducted for the specific purpose of providing international assistance, including development aid;
(ii) funded by an international organisation or foreign or international grants, loans or other assistance to which procurement procedures or conditions of the international organisation or donor apply; or
(iii) conducted under the particular procedure or condition of an international agreement relating to the stationing of troops or relating to the joint implementation by the signatory countries of a project.
Article 11.4. Exceptions
1. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent a Party from taking any action or from not disclosing any information that it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests relating to the procurement:
(a) of arms, ammunition or war material;
(b) that is indispensable for national security; or
(c) for national defence purposes.
2. Subject to the requirement that the measure is not applied in a manner that would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between the Parties where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade between the Parties, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent a Party, including its procuring entities, from adopting or maintaining a measure:
(a) necessary to protect public morals, order or safety;
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) necessary to protect intellectual property; or
(d) relating to the good or service of a person with disabilities, of philanthropic institutions, or of prison labour.
Article 11.5. General Principles
1. The Parties recognise the role of government procurement in furthering the bilateral trade relation and in promoting growth and employment. Where government procurement is expressly open to international competition, each Party, to the extent possible and as appropriate, shall conduct its government procurement in accordance with generally accepted government procurement principles as applied by that Party.
Further Negotiation
2. In the event that, after the entry into force of this Agreement, a Party offers a non-Party any advantages of access to its government procurement market, upon request of the other Party, the former Party shall, afford the latter Party adequate opportunity to enter into negotiations.
Procurement Methods
3. A procuring entity shall use an open tendering procedure for covered procurement unless Article 10.9 (Qualification of Suppliers) or Article 10.10 (Limited Tendering) applies.
Use of Electronic Means
4. The Parties shall endeavour to use electronic means in conducting covered procurement for the publication of procurement information, notices and tender documentation, and for the receipt of tenders.
5. When conducting covered procurement by electronic means, a procuring entity shall:
(a) ensure that the procurement is conducted using information technology systems, and software, including those related to authentication and encryption of information, that are generally available and interoperable with other generally available information technology systems, and software; and
(b) establish and maintain mechanisms that ensure the integrity of information provided by suppliers, including requests for participation and tenders.
6. Each Party shall establish single electronic system to facilitate the procurement process, which shall cover the procurement planning, the selection of suppliers, and the awarding of the contract.
Article 11.6. Publication of Procurement Information
1. Each Party shall make publicly available:
(a) its laws and regulations on government procurement;
(b) its government procurement procedures; and
(c) any standard contract clauses mandated by its laws or regulations regarding government procurement.
2. Each Party shall make available and update the information referred to in paragraph 1 through electronic means.
3. Each Party shall respond to any inquiries by the other Party relating to the information referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 11.7. Notices
1. Each Party shall publish a notice of intended procurement through a single point of access in the appropriate paper or electronic means listed in Annex 11A that is directly accessible and free of charge. The notices shall remain readily accessible to the public until at least the expiration of the time period for responding to the notice or the deadline for submission of the tender.
Notice of Intended Procurement
2. Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter, each notice of intended procurement shall include the following information, unless that information is provided in the tender documentation that is made available free of charge to all interested suppliers at the same time as the notice of intended procurement:
(a) the name and address of the procuring entity and other information necessary to contact the procuring entity and obtain all relevant documents relating to the procurement, and the cost and terms of payment to obtain the relevant documents, if any;
(b) a description of the procurement, including, if appropriate, the nature and quantity of the goods or services to be procured and a description of any options, or the estimated quantity if the quantity is not known;
(c) if applicable, the time-frame for delivery of goods or services or the duration of the contract;
(d) if applicable, the address and any final date for the submission of requests for participation in the procurement;
(e) the address and the final date for the submission of tenders;
(f) the language or languages in which tenders or requests for participation may be submitted, if other than an official language of the Party of the procuring entity;
(g) a list and a brief description of any conditions for participation of suppliers, that may include any related requirements for specific documents or certifications that suppliers must provide; and
(h) if, pursuant to Article 11.9 (Qualification of Suppliers), a procuring entity intends to select a limited number of qualified suppliers to be invited to tender, the criteria that will be used to select them and, if applicable, any limitation on the number of suppliers that will be permitted to tender.
Notice of Planned Procurement
3. The Parties are encouraged to publish, as early as possible in each fiscal year, a notice regarding their future procurement plans (notice of planned procurement) which should include the subject matter of the procurement and the planned time of selection of suppliers.
Article 11.8. Conditions for Participation
1. A procuring entity shall limit any conditions for participation in a covered procurement to those conditions that ensure that a supplier has the legal and financial capacities and the commercial and technical abilities to fulfil the requirements of that procurement.
2. In establishing the conditions for participation, a procuring entity:
(a) shall not impose the condition that, in order for a supplier to participate in a procurement, the supplier has previously been awarded one or more contracts by a procuring entity of a given Party or that the supplier has prior work experience in the territory of that Party; and
(b) may require relevant prior experience if essential to meet the requirements of the procurement.
Article 11.9. Qualification of Suppliers Registration Systems and Qualification Procedures
1. A Party, including its procuring entities, may maintain a supplier registration system under which interested suppliers are required to register and provide certain information and documentation.
Selective Tendering
2. If a procuring entity intends to use selective tendering, the procuring entity shall:
(a) publish a notice of intended procurement that invites qualified suppliers to submit a request for participation in a covered procurement; and
(b) include in the notice of intended procurement the information specified in subparagraph 2(a), 2(b), 2(d), 2(g), and 2(h) of Article 11.7 (Notices).
3. The procuring entity shall:
(a) publish the notice sufficiently in advance of the procurement to allow interested suppliers to request participation in the procurement;
(b) provide, by the commencement of the time period for tendering, at least the information in subparagraph 2(c), 2(e), and 2(f) of Article 11.7 (Notices) to the qualified suppliers that it notifies as specified in Article 11.14 (Time Periods); and (c) allow all qualified suppliers to submit a tender, unless the procuring entity stated in the notice of intended procurement a limitation on the number of suppliers that will be permitted to tender and the criteria or justification for selecting the limited number of suppliers.
4. If the tender documentation is not made publicly available from the date of publication of the notice referred to in paragraph 2, the procuring entity shall ensure that the tender documentation is made available at the same time to all the qualified suppliers selected in accordance with paragraph 3(c).
Multi-Use Lists
5. A Party, including its procuring entities, may establish or maintain a multi-use list provided that it publishes annually, or otherwise makes continuously available by electronic means, a notice inviting interested suppliers to apply for inclusion on the list. The notice shall include:
(a) a description of the goods and services, or categories thereof, for which the list may be used;
(b) the conditions for participation to be satisfied by suppliers for inclusion on the list and the methods that the procuring entity or other government agency will use to verify a supplier’s satisfaction of those conditions;
(c) the name and address of the procuring entity or other government agency and other information necessary to contact the procuring entity and to obtain all relevant documents relating to the list;
(d) the period of validity of the list and the means for its renewal or termination or, if the period of validity is not provided, an indication of the method by which notice will be given of the termination of use of the list; and
(e) the deadline for submission of applications for inclusion on the list, if applicable.
6. A Party, including its procuring entities, that establishes or maintains a multi-use list, shall include on the list, within a reasonable period of time, all suppliers that satisfy the conditions for participation set out in the notice referred to in paragraph 5.
7. If a supplier that is not included on a multi-use list submits a request for participation in a procurement based on the multi-use list and submits all required documents, within the time period provided for in Article 11.14 (Time Periods), a procuring entity shall examine the request. The procuring entity shall not exclude the supplier from consideration in respect of the procurement unless the procuring entity is not able to complete the examination of the request within the time period allowed for the submission of tenders.