![]() ![]() Before the end of this century, the country is expected to become the fourth-largest economy in the world, just behind China, India and the US. To boost economic growth, Indonesia is also overseeing multi-billion-dollar public infrastructure projects, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed-rail project, in tandem with leading development partners such as China and Japan. Its pursuit of a knowledge-based economy has gone hand-in-hand with a comprehensive rural development programme, which has significantly reduced poverty and enhanced productivity across Indonesia’s provinces. Under Jokowi, Indonesia is also exploring a transformative national development programme, which includes the construction of a new capital city called Nusantara, with a price tag of $31 billion, as well as a shift to high value-added industries, including the establishment of a Tesla regional EV battery production hub. To begin with, it boasts a $1 trillion GDP, with a booming digital economy that has produced unicorns and world-class start-ups such as Gojek, a multi-service platform that could soon rival FinTech giants in China and the West. In recent years, however, Indonesia has rapidly transformed into an indispensable power in the Indo-Pacific. Thanks to bitter Cold War-era rifts, China lacked even formal bilateral ties with Indonesia for more than two decades.įor its part, Indonesia remained largely focused on strengthening the Association of South-East Asian Nations, a regional body that aimed to prevent the domination of the region by any major power. After all, much smaller nations such as Vietnam or Cambodia absorbed much of the West’s strategic focus throughout the twilight decades of the 20th century.Ī former Dutch colony, Indonesia was also largely ignored by major European powers, which were more focused on Russia, China and former colonies in East Asia. Accordingly, Indonesia was placed in the lowly “Category C” of India’s foreign policy priorities.ĭecades later, leading South-East Asia expert Donald Emmerson lamented Indonesia’s marginal position in America’s regional strategic priorities, arguing “the significance of a country and the attention it receives are separate matters". ![]() Unsplashįormer Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru once described Indonesia, along with other South-East Asian countries, as “Coca-Cola governments”, because they were seen as too dependent on the West and often lacked both strategic autonomy and international influence to truly matter. Penajam North Paser regency in East Kalimantan will soon be home to Indonesia's new capital city. Yet, since its independence in the mid-20th century, Indonesia, home to 275 million people, has often struggled to attract global attention commensurate to its demographic size and geopolitical heft. Spanning 4,700 kilometres from the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation, with 17,000 islands. In the coming decades, the South-East Asian country is well-placed to claim its place of pride among rising Asian superpowers of China and India. But what’s clear is that the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and third-largest democracy has steadily emerged as a global force in the 21st century. Jokowi’s “peace mission” to Europe received relatively scant attention in western media, especially since Indonesia’s mediation efforts have yet to produce a major breakthrough. In Moscow, Jokowi reportedly secured “guarantees” on the safe passage of agricultural products “not only from Russia but also from Ukraine". In late June, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, affectionately known as “Jokowi”, embarked on an unprecedented “peace mission” to Europe, where he met his counterparts in Kyiv and Moscow.ĭuring his exchanges with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jokowi promised to pass on his message to Mr Putin and, accordingly, expressed his commitment to help establish contact between the two leaders in order to ensure a move towards “a peace settlement and an open dialogue”. ![]() Since taking over the rotational presidency of the G20 grouping, Indonesia has underscored its commitment to play a proactive role in promoting global peace and stability. By all accounts, Indonesia is determined to host the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the US since the Ukraine war began in February. Although they have pushed for the exclusion of Russia from the power grouping, leaders from major western nations are also set to attend the high-level meeting in November. Later this year, Chinese and Russian leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are expected to attend the G20 summit on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia. ![]()
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