Description about the agenda with respect to Indonesia's diplomatic stance
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ASEAN BEAT | DIPLOMACY | ECONOMY | SOUTHEAST ASIA
Making Sense of Indonesia’s Economic Diplomacy
Looking back at the country’s at-time contradictory approach to multilateral trade governance.
By Moch Faisal Karim
June 20, 2020
Making Sense of Indonesia’s Economic Diplomacy
Credit: Kepresidenan Indonesia
During the second term of his presidency, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prioritize the economic sector in its diplomacy agenda over the next five years. Jokowi envisages that economic diplomacy will be harnessed to strengthen economic cooperation at the bilateral, regional, and international levels.
Two reasons underlie the decision to push economic diplomacy as a priority. First, the condition of global economic uncertainty accentuated by the ongoing U.S.-China trade war. Second, Jokowi’s domestic policy agenda from the start has focused on reforming the bureaucracy. Official studies have shown that Indonesia’s economic diplomacy outreach has indeed been successful, particularly in terms of opening up new markets and attracting inward foreign investment.
Yet many observers argue that Jokowi’s economy-centric foreign policy agenda has to some extent reduced Indonesia’s activism in regional and global platforms. In contrast to the economic diplomacy approach favored by Jokowi, under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s presidency from 2004 until 2014, foreign policy was directed more toward greater engagement by Jakarta in a wide variety of global issues ranging from democracy and climate change to trade. Under Yudhoyono’s leadership, a strong sense prevailed that Indonesia was keen to play a more significant role at the international level.