The Asean Economic Community (AEC) is set to commence at the end of this year, but there is very little public discussion about the opportunities and threats that this significant change presents for Indonesia (see commentary on point here). The AEC will have more than 600 million people, and a GDP of USD 2.4 trillion (7th largest economy in the world). Indonesia will account for roughly a third of this, and we expect to see other ASEAN countries taking advantage of access to the Indonesian market.
The Indonesian government has tasked the Creative Economy Agency with increasing awareness about intellectual property rights and helping Indonesian businesses ensure that products and services meet international standards (see here). Whatever effect these measures may be having, they don’t appear to be resulting in a rush to protect intellectual property rights.
The introduction of the AEC will bring down trade barriers, but will have no impact on intellectual property laws - IP rights need to be protected under each member country's laws. All businesses - local and foreign - that intend to trade in the Indonesian market should be reviewing IP Plans and portfolios in anticipation of an expected increase in competition.