By Anton Lutter.
Already 74 years ago Indonesia’s independence was declared on Friday the 17thaugust – two days after Japan capitulated and thus the second world war ended – at 10.00 in Jakarta by Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president. The declaration started a troublesome relation between The Netherlands, the colonial overlord of Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies, and the Indonesian independence movement. Now more then 74 years later The Netherlands and Indonesia enjoy a friendship that is as strong as ever.
His Excellency I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, in his last Independence Day speech as ambassador of Indonesia to The Kingdom of The Netherlands welcomed the many guest – among them many veterans – at the Indonesian school in Wassenaar to commemorate the 74thAnniversary of his country’s independence.
2019 has been a special year for Indonesia – including all Indonesian citizens in The Netherlands, as last April a general election was held in which President Joko Widodo was reelected. Mr. Widodo’s priorities for the coming 4 years will the continuity of infrastructure development, development of human resources, the ease of doing business, bureaucratic reform and the right spending of state budget.
Among the many highlights between The Netherlands’ and Indonesia’s relationship Ambassador Puja noted that in the field of investment, the Netherlands, for several years in a row, is still the largest source of foreign direct investment from Europe to Indonesia. As recorded in the second quarter of 2019, the realization of FDI from The Netherlands has reached USD 738.5 million in 1183 projects. An increase of 62.5% compared to the same period in 2018.
Many of these investments are in the field of strategic areas including the development of key infrastructures in the maritime, water management transportation and logistics. Considering trade – until June 2019 – Indonesia’s surplus amounted USD 1.3 billion, with still great opportunities to increase export to The Netherlands. Also, in tourism there’s an increase of visitors to Indonesia, resulting in 2018 in more than 209.000 Dutch visitors.
The Indonesian Embassy in The Netherlands also encourages the intensification of people-to-people contact through the promotion of creative economy, including through movies. A number of Indonesian movies were shown at various festivals in The Netherlands. In addition, this year the 6thmeeting of Interfaith Dialogue was held between Indonesia and The Netherlands in June 2019 in Nijmegen, under the theme of Islam Wataniyah (seeking the middle path: articulations of moderate Islam) in cooperation with the Dutch branch of Pengurus Cabang Istimewa Nahdlatul Ulama (PCINU).
An important field of Dutch-Indonesian cooperation is education. Ambassador Puja mentioned the fact that The Netherlands is one of the most favourite destinations for Indonesian students in pursuing higher education at various universities. The numbers continue to increase by around 3-5 percent each year, with around 2000 students. Cooperation between the two countries in the field of health has also been running more intensively, especially after signing of the MoU of the Health Cooperation in November last year in Bali.
Indonesia is also a forerunner considering peace and stability in ASEAN, supporting cooperation that includes maritime, connectivity, SDG 2030 and economic cooperation. This cooperation will create new opportunities for all countries to achieve economic growth and become the new center and engine for global economy. This positive contribution and the involvement of aal countries will ease the achievement of peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Lastly H.E. I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja mentioned that this year will be his last year as the ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Pak Puja: I would like to thank all counterparts, the community and the Indonesian Diaspora, all Friends of Indonesia in The Netherlands and ofcourse all staff of the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague for the continuous support and cooperation as well as sincere friendship which certainly encourage me in carrying out the duties that had been entrusted by the President of Indonesia 4 years ago. I hope that the same friendship and support will also be given to my successor later. “Sekali layer terkembang, mundur kita berpantang” (Once the sail is expanded, we shall not back down)!
