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Broader and deeper relations

To coincide with the Swedish National Day today, the country's ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Harald Sandberg, who has been on assignment here for four years, shares his views on many things, including bilateral ties between Sweden and Indonesia and his fondness of motorcycles.

Question: During your four years here, have you had a "motto" that gives you direction in your work?

Sandberg: Well, maybe I see it more as a motto that we have at the embassy, rather than something of my own. What we are doing is really a group effort, with the Swedish and Indonesian staff working together. But, yes, we have tried, in all different fields of work of the embassy, to be led by the concept "to deepen and broaden relations".

Our two countries have long-standing good and close relations, dating back to Indonesia's independence. We have cooperated at the UN on North-South issues, we have had academic and cultural exchange, exchange of travel and tourism and, last but not least, the backbone of our relations over the years, a very healthy trade and investment relationship.

Relations between two countries, for me, primarily mean people-to-people relations, and that's why it is so important to encourage broad relations in as many fields as possible. Sweden is an active supporter of the Partnership for Governance Reform; we have supported cooperation between the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights in Sweden and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, as well as with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) and the National Commission on Women (Komnas Perempuan).

We have supported the Indonesian Ombudsman's contacts with the Swedish Ombudsman and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) is also supporting the cooperation between Radio Republic Indonesia (RRI) and Radio Sweden International, with the aim of contributing to RRI's introduction of the concept of public service broadcasting.

We have, in our cooperation, also focused on the environment and on sustainable development. Sweden and Indonesia have common ground in that they are both countries with large forests, and we have had Swedish experts here working with the Indonesian forestry sector to safeguard the environment. In all these efforts, we are trying to support Indonesia's own reform priorities, within areas where we believe that we have a competence useful for sharing with Indonesia. I see very much a two-way street, where both parties are sharing experiences and learning from each other.

You said that the backbone of relations over the years has been trade and investment?

Yes, we don't always think about it that way, but when you are talking people-to-people relations, it is really globalization in trade and investment that has meant the most in all our contacts between countries. When I see an Indonesian-made product in a Swedish IKEA store in Baltimore in the U.S., that's when I really feel the extent the world is changing. I strongly believe that this change is for the better -- it is open trade, open borders, tolerance for other people's beliefs and cultures, a free market, strong institutions and society built on law that has given a large degree of wealth and security to the peoples of the industrialized world. The challenge for the 21st century is to deliver security and wealth also to the majority of the world's population, living in the developing countries. Globalization gives structural adjustment, which means changes in society. Structural adjustment is never easy, but it is still globalization that delivers hope for our future.

Swedish and Indonesian trade is now back to precrisis levels, with mutual bilateral trade now at around 500 million U.S. dollars per year. Hidden behind these figures you will find the traders of Elof Hanson contributing to wealth on both the Swedish and Indonesian sides as well as the Indonesian drivers that are safe in Volvo cars. Also, behind the figures are all the Lux and Electrolux home appliances used in many Indonesian homes and the many Indonesian and Scandinavian travelers with SAS. Welding specialists ESAB and Avesta Polarit are delivering jobs and wealth to Indonesian families and millions and millions of Indonesians are talking to each other over Sony Ericsson cellular phones and Ericsson telephone exchanges and equipment. And, of course, when talking about industry and trade as people-to-people relations, one must not forget the many Swedes with Indonesian furniture at home, or using Indonesian-made clothing and textiles.

During my years in Indonesia, representatives of Swedish companies have formed a Swedish Business Association (SBA) here in Jakarta. Later this year the embassy, together with the SBA and Indonesian counterparts, is planning an event to exchange views on an open world, open trade and free markets, where industry, organizations and academics will get a chance to exchange views on building wealth. During my years here, I have also seen the Indonesian Swedish Association, with a broader agenda on expanding contacts between our two countries, reactivate itself and widen its activities, including in the cultural field.

Yes, what about the cultural field?

There are long-standing relations also in the cultural field. Academic institutions in Sweden and Indonesia have cooperated in different fields, and the Sunobodoyo Museum in Yogyakarta has an active relation with the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. There have, of course, been many more contacts in academia and culture over the years, with and without the involvement of the embassy. As interest on both sides is growing we are also trying to contribute from the embassy.

This year, we are organizing a large art exhibition at Gedung Arsip Nasional -- it will in fact be opened tonight by the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. We have invited nine contemporary artists from Sweden, and they will display over 100 works of art.

Some of the participating artists will come to Jakarta, to be present at the exhibition and to meet Indonesian colleagues, art students and a hopefully interested public. This exhibition, I hope, will fuel a mutual interest to learn more about our two cultures. We have also invited noted Swedish archaeologist Bengt Edgren, who will meet with interested parties in both Jakarta and Yogyakarta to discuss the preservation of historical sites, and who will share his experience of such work in Sweden.

I understand that you own a motorcycle?

I first started to ride a motorcycle when I was going through officer's training in the Swedish Army many years ago. I took it up again some 10 years ago, and actually became the President of the Swedish Foreign Ministry's Motorcycle Club. I do have a Harley-Davidson motorcycle here in Jakarta, and I use it a little to relax and to have some fun. It is a good contrast to the daily life of a diplomat!