COUNTRY PROFILE -- THE NETHERLANDS

COUNTRY PROFILE -- THE NETHERLANDS ARTICLE PROVIDED BY THE EMBASSY

Message from the Ambassador of the Netherlands, Mr. Ruud Treffers, on the occasion of the celebration of Queen's Day on April 10, 2003

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The official celebration of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, our national day, presents a good opportunity to reflect upon the relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands. It is with great pleasure that I can observe that our bilateral relations are broad-based and in good shape.

This goes for the cooperation between our respective governments, as well as for the manifold relations between individuals and organizations from both countries.

Historic and cultural ties

The solid and historical foundations on which the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia is built, provide a sound base for constructing new and vital relations.

Both our countries are still in the process of dealing with our past and some issues can still be sensitive. Take for example the commemoration of 400 years of the VOC last year, which was not welcomed by everybody. At the same time the relations between our countries have significantly improved during the last few years and our common past has also proved to be a source of inspiration.

A good example of this is our cultural cooperation in the form of frequent performances and exhibitions at our cultural center here, Erasmus Huis, as well as in the many activities to preserve archives, monuments and objects of art. There are only two countries in the world where the Netherlands has its own cultural center: the Institut Nierlandais in Paris and the Erasmus Huis in Jakarta.

The importance of Indonesia in Dutch foreign relations is also a result of the large number of people in the Netherlands of Indonesian descent. About 750,000 to 800,000 people living in the Netherlands have their roots in Indonesia, which is about 5 percent of the Dutch population. For this reason many Dutch people are interested in developments in Indonesia and in the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands. And it also explains why you can find an Indonesian restaurant in every city and village in the Netherlands.

Development cooperation

Of prime importance for the Netherlands in its bilateral relations with Indonesia is the territorial integrity of Indonesia, and support for the transition of the country toward a solid democracy and a free economy.

This support is materialized through an intensive development cooperation relationship with Indonesia, which was resumed in 1999. Indonesia is now the largest recipient of Dutch development cooperation, with an amount of approximately 60 million euro per year.

This makes the Netherlands one of the largest donors of grant funds in Indonesia. Poverty alleviation is central in the cooperation with Indonesia. Assistance is given to sectors marked as priorities by the government of Indonesia, namely a) education, b) good governance, c) water management and d) community recovery.

Sectoral approach

a) In the education sector alone the Netherlands is spending 30 million euro annually directly on basic education. The Indonesian authorities indicate to which schools in the poorest areas the money should be allocated for the repair of school buildings and scholarships for students.

b) In the area of good governance the Netherlands contributes to the so-called Partnership for Governance Reform. The partnership has chosen several priority sectors to promote good governance. The most important are: a clean, fair and transparent legal system, effective public service, participation of society in the reform process and civilian control over security and order.

Within these sectors special attention is given to the current decentralization process, judicial reform and the fight against corruption.

c) In September 1998 the Community Recovery Program (CRP) was launched in response to the severe financial and economic crisis that has hit Indonesia since July 1997. The CRP is not only focused on poverty alleviation, but also on developing a network of community-based organizations throughout the country to tackle structural conditions that trap the poor in poverty. Another program in this sector is the Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) conducted by the World Bank. The Dutch grant to KDP made it possible to reach one out of every four villages in Indonesia and enabled the program to conduct small-scale infrastructure, social and economic activities.

d) The largest program in the area of water management supports the further strengthening of Water Users Associations for the management of irrigation networks in 13 provinces.

Furthermore, our country remains willing to provide emergency aid and reconstruction assistance to regions in need. An example of this is the humanitarian aid to Maluku and North Maluku to the amount of six million euro per year.

Cooperation through multilateral agencies

The majority of the Dutch funds are channeled through multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program, which are responsible for the supervision and coordination of the funds.

This means that Dutch funds are not being used to finance stand-alone Netherlands projects, but are always mainstreamed in Indonesian policies and in multilateral financing. In this way these contributions benefit from a leverage and aim to be effective and sustainable.

Economic relations

In the economic field, a lot of Dutch companies are established in Indonesia. While it may be true that Indonesia is trading more with Asia and with the United States than with Europe, the Netherlands is still a major investor in Indonesia with investments amounting to 220 million euro in 2002.

Intensive bilateral trade between Indonesia and the Netherlands of more than 1.7 billion euro in 2002 resulted in a large trade surplus for Indonesia.

The Netherlands offers several financial instruments to stimulate trade relations between Dutch and Indonesian companies. One of those instruments is the Program for Cooperation with Emerging Markets (PSOM). The Netherlands and Indonesia have recently decided to continue this program, which aims at cofinancing pilot projects in order to facilitate long-term investments and to promote a lasting trade relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Tourism

Unfortunately the Indonesian economy, and especially the tourism sector, has been adversely affected by terrible events such as the Bali attacks, the war against Iraq and only recently the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Asian region.

For the revival of the tourist industry, of which Dutch visitors have always been enthusiastic and regular clients, it is important that Indonesia continues to take all necessary steps to prevent terrorism and other forms of violence from happening in this country.

The same goes for preventive measures against the spread of SARS. By implementing and highly publicizing these confidence- building measures, I am convinced that tourists will start coming back to Indonesia.

Study in the Netherlands

A continuous contribution to the strengthening of the friendship between our countries is made by the exchange of students. Many Dutch students and scientists visit Indonesia every year, while many Indonesian students are given the chance to study in the Netherlands.

The opportunities by means of scholarships and grants for studying at one of the many universities and institutes of professional education in the Netherlands are manifold and still increasing. The Netherlands Education Centre in Jakarta is the place to get information or personal advice on this matter.

This interest in the Netherlands is also expressed by the fact that each year the Erasmus Language Centre in Jakarta attracts almost 2,000 students for its courses. This large number can partly be explained by the need to learn the Dutch language and to study Dutch law and history in order to fully understand the Indonesian legal system and the history of the country, but also by the many personal contacts that exist and still grow.

It is my hope that the special bond many Indonesian and Dutch people feel toward each other will continue to exist for many years to come.