Dutch-Indonesian economic relations

Trade relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia have blossomed over the past years. Bilateral trade volume has grown yearly, with Indonesia realizing a considerable surplus. Indonesian exports to the Netherlands amounted to US$1.8 billion in 1997, with Dutch exports reaching approximately $565 million.

As a result of the financial and economic crisis, Dutch exports to Indonesia dropped sharply, and Indonesian exports also suffered. In the first quarter of 1999, Indonesian exports to the Netherlands dropped to $369.7 million. Indonesian imports from the Netherlands were $60.6 million in the same period. The main commodities exported to the Netherlands are cocoa, animal feed, tobacco, coffee, vegetable oils and fats, natural rubber latex, pulp and waste paper, plywood, manufactured wood products and coal.

However, the importance of Dutch-Indonesian economic relations is not only reflected in the volume of our bilateral trade figures. Investments are a more important indication. The Netherlands is one of the largest investors in Indonesia, ranking seventh with a total cumulative investment value of $11.8 billion during the period from 1967 to 1999. A number of large Dutch companies have invested in production capacity for the Indonesian market. Although they were affected by the crisis, it is good to note that none of the Dutch companies decided to withdraw from Indonesia.

Indonesian-Dutch bilateral relations have entered a new era of cooperation with the reestablishment of a structural bilateral development cooperation. The Netherlands has given the Indonesian government a $50 million grant to support its poverty alleviation programs, and has played an active role in the rescheduling of Indonesian sovereign debt in the framework of the Paris Club agreement.

The already excellent bilateral relations between the two countries received a boost from the successful official visit of President Abdurrahman Wahid to the Netherlands in February this year. The interest of the Dutch government and the corporate sector in Indonesia was recently underlined by the visit of Dutch Vice Prime Minister Annemarie Jorritsma in March. Mrs. Jorritsma was accompanied by a large, high-level trade and investment delegation of Dutch corporations. With this mission, the Dutch companies demonstrated their unabated interest in doing business in and with Indonesia.

The Netherlands and Indonesia have long-standing, historic relations. Even more important, however, is the Dutch commitment to remaining a reliable partner of Indonesia in the future.