Greetings by the German Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia,
Greetings by the German Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Gerhard Fulda, on the occasion of the German National Day
On 3 October 2000 we will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of German unity. After forty years of enforced division, Germany was once again united with the agreement of all its neighbours and allies. For the first time in our history Germany is surrounded only by friends and partners. For that we are grateful. And we see it also as an obligation in terms of the future.
Creating comparable living conditions throughout Germany and reuniting - in a social, economic and also psychological sense - two societies that for decades had been cast in very different moulds, was and remains an immense challenge. Although the material progress of the last ten years is clearly visible - some parts of Eastern Germany nowadays have a more modern infrastructure than some in the West - there is still talk of a lingering 'mental divide' between East and West Germans. In this respect, the united Germany is still a country in transition.
I am stressing this point, because I think it contains a valuable lesson for all of us living in Indonesia. When I took over my post as the new German Ambassador to Indonesia in June this year, I was astonished to realize that some observers, foreign and Indonesian, viewed events in Indonesia with a certain pessimism. Although some of the recent events are indeed worrying, I am optimistic about the future of 'demokratisasi' in Indonesia. Not least because we Germans know from our own experience that it takes a lot of time to change attitudes, habits and mentalities which have developed over decades under a regime, where the freedom of expression was suppressed. It seems to me that we have forgotten too quickly that it is only a little more than two years since Indonesia embarked on its road to democracy.
Indonesia and Germany are linked by a longstanding friendship. German scientists, explorers and traders lived on Sumatra, Java, Bali, the Moluccas and other islands since the 16th century. Today, every year tens of thousands of German tourists visit your beautiful country. Vice versa, since the independence of Indonesia around 17.000 Indonesians have studied in Germany and have brought back their newly acquired skills to Indonesia. As I write, nearly 2000 young Indonesian study in Germany and I would like to encourage more young Indonesians to enquire about the possibilities of 'Studi di Jerman'. Principally tuition-free!!
One sign of our solidarity with Indonesia is the German- Indonesian development cooperation. The overall goal of this cooperation is to improve the living conditions of the Indonesian population in general. Since its beginning in the 1950s, Germany has spent approximately 6 Billion Deutsche Mark in technical and financial cooperation in Indonesia. Today, over a hundred German long- and short term experts are working together with Indonesian experts in projects all over Indonesia. The focus areas are environment, health, human resources, transport and the promotion of small and medium scale enterprises. In this context, I would also like to mention the successful scientific cooperation between our two countries and the financial assistance to Indonesia Germany is channeling through its membership in multinational organisations like the UN, the IMF, the World Bank and others.
As far as the bilateral trade between Indonesia and Germany is concerned, I am glad to say that we begin to see the first encouraging signs. The most recent trade figures show an increase in the bilateral trade volume of 27% for the period January - May 2000 compared to the same period in 1999, thus ending the negative trend of the last two years and creating a trade surplus in Indonesia's favour in this period of over one billion Deutsche Mark. More than 150 German firms continue to be active in Indonesia and although investment remains unsatisfactorily low, I have witnessed an enormous amount of interest in Indonesia as a potential business location in my discussions with German businessmen so far.
The German reunification has shown that democracy is the key to prosperity and stability. Let me conclude by saying that Germany will continue to assist Indonesia on its way to a more democratic society, because a prosperous and stable Indonesia is in the interest of all. Human rights are good for business!