Celebrating 50 years of Swedish-RI relations

Celebrating 50 years of Swedish-RI relations

With globalization and the Information Technology (IT)
revolution, the distance between Sweden and Indonesia is
shrinking dramatically. The following is an interview with the
Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia, Harald Sandberg.

Question: On June 6, 2000, we are celebrating 50 years of
diplomatic relations between Sweden and Indonesia. What is your
message today?

Answer: This is a day when we can proudly look back at 50
years of good relations between our two countries, in good times
as well as in more difficult times. Even more, it is a day to
look forward to an even closer relationship in the future. Today,
Swedish-Indonesian relations are growing wider and deeper than
ever.

The two years I have been in Indonesia have been times of
difficulties and hardship for the Indonesian people. These same
years have also seen profound political change, however, with a
new openness, free elections and the establishment of an
Indonesian Government with a democratic mandate. These changes
have led to a positive increasing interest for Indonesia in my
country.

Indonesia's enormous potential, in all fields, is better
understood than ever. I also see an increasing interest for
Sweden in Indonesia and travel to Sweden is increasing. In March,
a delegation of prominent representatives of Indonesian media
visited Sweden in order to study the Swedish Ombudsman system,
and the newly appointed Indonesian Chief Ombudsman is in close
contact with his Swedish counterpart, who heads the world's
oldest Ombudsman institution.

What do the relations between our two countries mean to you,
as Ambassador?

For me, relations between countries primarily means people-to
people relations. The backbone of our relations has always been
in trade and industrial contacts. Tetra Pak fruit-juice
containers are used all over Indonesia. The yellow Swedish Match
matchboxes are recognized by millions of Indonesians. Hundreds of
thousands of Swedes have Indonesian products from the furniture
chain IKEA in their homes or wear Hennes & Mauritz Indonesian-
made clothes. Millions of Indonesian meals are served on
Perstorp's Indonesian-made first-class melamine dinnerware.
Swedish consumers are enjoying excellent Indonesian pineapple and
Indonesian drivers feel safe in Volvo and Scania cars, trucks and
buses.

People-to-people relations also come through the many
thousands of Swedish tourists visiting Indonesia and learning
about this fantastic country. In the cultural field, there is
cooperation between the Sonobodoyo Museum in Yogyakarta and the
Swedish Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm. Among academic
contacts, I can mention that the University of Gadjah Mada
cooperates with the university in Lund. August Strindberg's Miss
Julie was recently performed in Indonesia in Jakarta. These
examples of cultural exchange between our two peoples are what
international relations are to me.

And on the Government side?

Our two countries have had a close and active governmental
relationship ever since 1950. Indonesia was always interesting
for us, i.a., because of its important regional role, its central
importance in the North-South Dialog, the Bandung Conference and
cooperation between our two counties on issues in the UN. We have
had the same interest in a free and open international trading
system, built on globally agreed rules in the World Trade
Organization.

Sweden has a development cooperation program in Indonesia,
traditionally focused on a few areas where we believe that we are
well placed to contribute to Indonesian priorities. Forestry and
the environment have been prioritized sectors, as well as
democracy and human rights. The advent of the crisis made poverty
eradication a new priority, and Sweden is one of the main
contributors to the Community Recovery Program.

Together with other EU countries, Sweden also participated in
funding the UNDP efforts to support the elections in Indonesia in
1999. The Swedish development cooperation minister Maj-Inger
Klingvall visited Indonesia in April 2000 and met with President
Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and
several ministers, for building a base for continued cooperation
between our two countries.

How do you see relations developing?

With globalization and the IT revolution, the distance between
our countries is shrinking dramatically. With instant
information, we have become neighbors. Sweden is one of the
world's most advanced IT nations and can rightfully claim to be
one big IT cluster. Ericsson is well known in Indonesia as a
leader in cellular phones and telephone systems. IT has been a
driving force in the development of high-tech telecommunications
hardware and software in Sweden.

Swedish industrial buyers like the global technology group
ABB, home appliances Electrolux and Lux, and SKF ball bearings
have encouraged the development of a wide range of IT solutions
and fostered the creation of a number of today's larger Swedish
IT companies. In Indonesia, we see the activities i.a. of IFS,
the world's fastest growing business applications supplier, and
Scala, the Internet business group.

There is great scope for further and broader relations between
our countries. We need to use our new "neighbor relationship",
learn to know more about each other and see how we can build
"win-win" relationships. I hope for more of cultural exchange,
and I foresee an increase in direct contacts between our
Governments, including ministerial visits in both directions.

As Indonesia is emerging from the crisis, are Swedish
companies coming in as investors?

Indonesia is certainly emerging from the crisis, and we are
seeing a normalization in trade and commercial contacts to the
benefit of workers, consumers and businesses on both sides. There
are however, still challenges to overcome. The financial sector
reform must continue in Indonesia, IBRA must pursue its
independent work on rebuilding the banking sector. The
restructuring of private debt must succeed, so that foreign
companies can find financially healthy suppliers, partners and
customers to deal with. Environmental and social challenges must
be overcome.

Last but not least, the credibility of the legal system must
be rebuilt. Business is risk, and the last thing businesspeople
want is governments adding risk which cannot be measured. The
Government has set it a priority to eradicate corruption,
collusion and nepotism (KKN). For business, this is indeed
crucial. Rules and regulations, be they in taxation, in customs
or in other areas, should be transparent and the implementation
must be predicable and equally applied to all parties.

I am very much an optimist as to future relations. In May this
year, Indonesia was visited by the President of the Federation of
Swedish Industries Mr. Per Olofsson, who led a delegation of
senior representatives of Swedish industries. The delegation met
President Abdurrahman, representatives of Indonesian and Swedish
companies here, several ministers, they visited factories, etc. I
know that they went back to Sweden with a very positive
impression, as they saw the potential of Indonesia's resources,
its excellent workforce, etc. I am sure that this visit has
contributed toward building a base for future expansion of
business between our countries. And increased business will serve
as a catalyst for further and broader relations in politics, in
culture and in other areas.