New
focus for Indonesian foreign policy
Omar Halim ;
A
retired senior United Nations official with over 28 years experience dealing
with economic and social affairs, public information, politics and
peacekeeping; He was also special representative of the secretary-general to
Armenia and Azerbaijan on the question of Nagorno Karabakh and to Cameroon
and Nigeria on the question of the Bakassi Peninsula
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JAKARTA
POST, 22 September 2014
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Because of
historical and political reasons, the “world issues” focused on by the world
press have been (a) issues between or among developed countries and (b)
issues related to developed countries involved in matters of developing
countries.
Historically,
there have been developing countries, large and small, which have been able
to sustain high rates of economic growth and this has resulted in their
ability to “catch up” with developed countries, such as South Korea,
Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand,
the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, South Arica, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and others.
On the other
hand, developed countries have been growing at much lower rates and even at
anemic and negative rates, such as Western Europe and Japan.
Naturally,
because the initial discrepancy in per capita income levels is so large, it
will take quite some time for these developing countries to equal or exceed
the income levels of the developed countries.
Within a span
of a few decades, developing countries experiencing sustained and high growth
rates should be able to increase their capacity in developing infrastructure,
human resources, technology and even military capacity.
The
establishment of the G20 indicates the recognition among the developed
countries that certain developing countries should be playing an increasingly
greater role in world affairs. It is in this context that Indonesia should
take the opportunity to develop a new and different government and in the
longer run, much closer cooperation and coordination with developing
countries located in south and east Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the
Pacific Island countries and South America.
What is the basis of Indonesia’s capacity to
assume this role? Concerning connectivity, the incoming Indonesian government
has stated that it would establish an “ocean toll”, which means better
transportation links between eastern and western parts of the country. This
will integrate regions much more closely.
Another policy objective stated was a
special emphasis on the development of the eastern part of Indonesia which,
if successful, could significantly increase the dynamism and economic growth
of the eastern regions of Indonesia.
The attainment of these two policy
objectives will no doubt make the Indonesian economy much more integrated and
dynamic.
Not only would
this result in the narrowing of the distribution of income and wealth between
the eastern and western parts of the country, but by having a much more
integrated and dynamic economy, Indonesia would be in a much better position
to become a node of transportation and trade between or among developing
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as with the eastern parts
of Asia, which are predicted to be the fastest growing regions in the world
for the foreseeable future.
Indonesia has to take the initiative to
develop much closer cooperation with countries in the southern hemisphere,
primarily because Indonesia has historical, geographic, economic and
political reasons to do so.
After independence, Indonesia, together with
a few other developing countries, established the idea of cooperation and
solidarity among Asian and African countries. The idea is still very much
alive and remembered by Africans. Later on, Indonesia championed the
expansion of the idea of cooperation to include Latin American countries.
In this way,
Indonesia has expanded its relationships with African, Asian and Latin
American countries. Geographically speaking, Indonesia could become the
center of transportation and trade among developing countries in the southern
hemisphere.
With increased
transportation and trade among these countries, their economies would be able
to grow faster and become more dynamic. The cooperation among these countries
could be expanded to include the fields of technology, investment,
information, tourism and others.
If this materializes, developing countries
in the southern hemisphere would be more dynamic, contributing to a more just
world economy. Indonesia would become one of the countries contributing to
this noble objective.
The Indonesian initiative will take some
time to bear tangible results, but the incoming government has to take a
first step now.
Indonesian foreign policy has to start
building the required blocks to systematically interlace the political and
economic relationships among the developing countries in the southern
hemisphere.
In the future,
Indonesia will play a much more important role in world affairs. This is an
opportunity that no other country has.
This new
initiative will be complementary to the existing foreign policy, which has to
strive for Indonesia assuming a maximum role in world affairs within the
existing conditions. ●
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