Australia and Indonesia will make a comprehensive trade agreement a priority in the new year, Trade Minister Andrew Robb says.
Mr Robb met his Indonesian counterpart Tom Lembong in Manila on the sidelines of APEC on Monday, ahead of leading Australia's biggest trade delegation of more than 350 business people to Jakarta.
Mr Robb says Indonesia's recent interest in joining the TPP and Mr Lembong's statements on improving the regulatory climate are a "breath of fresh air" to those seeking to do business in Indonesia.
He says he had a "meeting of minds" with the new minister and they will restart efforts to put their commitment in writing.
"Tom and I agreed, among other things, that we would immediately reinvigorate negotiations for the comprehensive economic partnership agreement that I think had run into the sand somewhat three or four years ago," he told business people in Yogyakarta on Tuesday.
President Joko Widodo's interest in the TPP is a positive signal, and commitments to winding back barriers to investment refreshing.
"It's a very ambitious statement, but it's a very important one and these things tend to move people," he said.
Also on Tuesday, Mr Robb launched a new report by the Australia Indonesia Centre, ANZ and PwC on finding joint opportunities to tap a potential $3 trillion growth in trade in the ASEAN economy over the next decade.
The neighbours had looked past each other for 15 or 20 years as both focused on northern Asian economies, he said, but the study showed "it's really quite compelling that we work at it".
Mr Lembong has said Indonesia's "unfriendly" protectionist measures have taken a toll on the country.
He told Philippines website Rappler it was time for change.
"We're not a defensive culture, we're not a closed culture, we're not a culture of losers. We're a culture of winners, we're a self-confident society," he said.
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