Bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Indonesia are strong largely due to the solid foundation based on culture, politics, mutual understanding and fraternity.
Fraternal feelings between the two countries were amply displayed recently when a high-powered Indonesian delegation arrived in Riyadh to show the country’s solidarity toward the Kingdom when King Fahd passed away on Aug. 1. The Indonesian government immediately sent a special team led by Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla along with Parliament Speaker Agung Laksono and other prominent leaders to convey its condolences to Kingdom’s royal family. Kalla attended the funeral prayers at Imam Turki ibn Abdullah Mosque and subsequently he and his entourage also met with King Fahd’s successor, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at the Yamamah Palace.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the friendly nations that rushed aid to Indonesia when the tsunami lashed the province of Aceh in December last year,” Arif Suyoko Information Officer said. The Kingdom gave $30 million as relief assistance to Asia’s tsunami victims. “Indonesia got a major portion of this because of the heavy losses it suffered due to tsunami,” Arif said.
He recalled that the Saudis also responded generously by donating more than $83 million to a Saudi government’s telethon initiative to raise funds to aid the tsunami victims.
“The government of Indonesia is highly appreciative of the humanitarian assistance given by friendly countries including those from the Saudi government, Saudi Red Crescent Society, Saudi companies and many Saudi philanthropists as well as expatriates living here ,” Arif added.
In the aftermath of the tsunami, the most affected area was the province of Aceh. The death toll was 128,037 and 37,066 people were reported missing. The tidal waves rendered 594.356 persons homeless and left hundreds of children without their parents.
The Special ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting on Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami, held in Jakarta on Jan. 6, 2005, was attended by the heads of state/government, special envoys and heads of regional as well as international organizations from several countries including Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, participants expressed their solidarity with Indonesia to assist the tsunami victims.
Dr. Anton Apriyanto, the Indonesian minister of agriculture, made an official visit to Saudi Arabia from May 23-27, 2005. Dozen of Indonesian businessman accompanied him. The businessmen also participated in the Saudi Food Exhibition in Riyadh, which was held from May 22-26.
During the visit, Dr. Anton met with his counterpart Dr. Fahd Balghaneim, Yusuf Al Bassam, chairman of Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and key officials of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce. In addition to these meetings, he also visited various agricultural projects in Riyadh.
“The aim of his visit was to promote and increase bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in the sectors of trade and investment especially in agriculture products. Dr. Anton also drummed up support for revitalizing Indonesia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors as part of an effort to boost Indonesian economy, .
The minister also invited Saudi businessmen to invest in Indonesia’s agro-based business sectors as well as in rural infrastructure sectors. Investments are open to foreign entrepreneurs since Indonesia currently plans to upgrade its infrastructure, including roads, transportation, ports, irrigation and power sectors.
At the end of his visit to the Kingdom, Dr. Anton said: “The two countries have agreed to set up a working group to implement all the provisions of an agreement signed by Riyadh and Jakarta. The working group will be composed of senior officials of the two agricultural ministries besides representatives of the affiliated agencies and companies.”
He added that the two sides have also agreed to cooperate in agriculture training sector, exchange of experts besides promoting investments and marketing of Saudi dates and Indonesian tropical fruits. Fauzi Eko Nugroho, head of economic section at the Indonesian Embassy, described the minister’s visit as successful and had further boosted bilateral trade.
Saudi Arabia is one of the leading investors in Indonesia with an estimated investment of $3.018 billion in 2004. Most of Saudi investments are in the fertilizer industry, refinery industry, oil processing, real estate and trade representative offices. The total value of Saudi investment in Indonesia from 1997 until 2004 had reached $7,55 billion in 35 projects.
Currently. there are more than 500.000 Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia. They are working in various fields of employment. “Along with their counterparts from other countries, these Indonesian workers undoubtedly have been contributing to the development of their host country,” M. Sugiarto, labor attaché of the mission, said. In line with its efforts to increase the number of Indonesian workers, he said his country, commencing this year, has been sending more professionals such as doctors, nurses and engineers to the Kingdom. “With the number of Indonesian workers increasing, we are trying to coordinate with the related government and non governmental agencies to chalk out a program to look after the workers’ interests in the Kingdom,” Sugiarto said.
