Indonesia-Netherlands ties enter a new era
Indonesia-Netherlands ties enter a new era
Indonesia and the Netherlands, whose relations hit rock bottom
in 1992 when Indonesia barred Dutch development aid, are entering
a new era of cooperation which will most probably be strengthened
with Queen Beatrix's planned visit to Indonesia in August this
year.
Indonesia was tied to the Netherlands for more than 3
centuries. The Netherlands did not recognize Indonesia's
declaration of independence on Aug. 17, 1945, and only
reluctantly transferred sovereignty to Indonesia in December
1949. The subsequent development of diplomatic ties between the
two sovereign states was overshadowed by their shared past for
quite some time.
A closer relationship began after the advent of the New Order
in 1966, particularly after the founding of the Inter-
Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) in 1967, a consortium of
donor countries and institutions which was headed by the
Netherlands. The warm relations broke down 25 years later when
Jakarta felt that Jan Pronk, the chairman of IGGI, went too far
in using his position to intervene in Indonesian domestic
politics. Early in 1992 President Soeharto unilaterally dissolved
the IGGI. The IGGI was replaced in the same year by the
Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) which does not include the
Netherlands.
An attempt to mend the relationship was launched last January
with the simultaneous launching of two fora: the Forum Nederland
Indonesia in The Hague, chaired by Piet Bukman; and the Forum
Indonesia Nederland in Jakarta, chaired by Radius Prawiro. The
establishment of these bilateral organizations is very timely, as
Indonesia celebrates 50 years of independence this year and
relations between the two countries have matured to mutual
respect.
This new development is underlined by President Soeharto's
recent remark that these centuries of relations have had a deep
and profound meaning for each of the two nations.
It is against this background that Indonesia wholeheartedly
welcomes the state visit of Queen Beatrix to Indonesia next
August.
Very timely
The timing of the Queen's visit is most fitting. Developments
in the European Union, APEC and ASEAN over the last few years
have established an entirely different world environment.
The Netherlands is one of the founding members of the European
Union which intends to integrate further and has also expanded in
size. Indonesia is a member of ASEAN with its Asean Free Trade
Area and of APEC which also aims to create a free trade area.
A round table conference in Jakarta is being organized to take
place on the 50th anniversary of the Indonesian independence. The
conference, proposed by the Forum Indonesia Nederland in Jakarta
and welcomed by its sister organization in The Hague, will not be
a meeting between governments, but a private initiative -- from
"civil society to civil society" the founders of the forum
organizations like to say.
Committees representing a broad spectrum of the two societies
are working out ideas that can be discussed in August. Six
committees have been set up on both sides, covering the economy
and business, science and technology, education and culture,
politics, social and cultural relations, and environment and
natural resources.
The area of economy and business has the largest potential for
growth. The key players are entrepreneurs in both countries. The
government's only responsibility is to encourage and facilitate.
It is most encouraging to observe that the establishment of
the Forum in both countries has made a good start. It reflects
the existence of goodwill and hope, not only on the part of high
level representatives of society, but also prominent ministers
representing the government.
The Forum is nonpolitical and noncommercial. It serves as a
people-to-people link and intends to stimulate closer contacts
and fruitful dialog and cooperation between the two nations.
Rather than dwelling on the past, the Forum is oriented towards
the future. The past should be regarded as bases on which to
develop continuing relations and to enrich the respective roles
of the two nations, both regionally and globally.
The statements and observations made during the launching day
of the Forum, Jan. 12, 1995, were positive. In Jakarta, two
ministers, Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance Saleh
Afiff and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro
were present to make statements.
Economic ties
The Netherlands has invested a total of US$6.8 billion in
Indonesia, and is ranked sixth among investing countries.
Opportunities for further Dutch investment are plentiful,
particularly when exploiting traditional strengths in technology,
management and services.
Most Indonesian companies, with some notable exceptions, are
concentrating on developing the home market and limit their
expansion to Southeast Asia and countries in the surrounding
regions. However, as pointed out by Dutch entrepreneur Morris
Tabaksblat, alliances and joint ventures with Dutch companies
would boost Indonesian investments in Europe, particularly now
that economic recovery is clearly taking place.
Bilateral trade between the two countries still favors
Indonesia, which exported $1.08 billion worth of goods to the
Netherlands in 1993 while importing $626 million worth of goods
during the same period.
Materials for this article were taken from Forum Bulletin, Vol.
1, 1995.