Excellencies
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am indeed honored to welcome you to this reception, the first of its kind to be organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Port Vila, Vanuatu, that will feature some of Indonesia’s finest arts and gastronomies.

I am in Vanuatu this week – with a delegation of more than twenty people consisting of diplomats, artists and a journalist – on a good will mission, aimed at further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation. I am, indeed, gratified and highly encouraged by the reception I have received from His Excellency President Mataskelekele, the Honourable Ham Lini and members of his cabinet. I highly appreciate their vision of our future relations. I have taken to heart President Mataskelekele’s foresight of our two countries overcoming the ‘barrier of silence’, a message further reinforced by Prime Minister Lini. Their support has served to strengthen my commitment and the commitment of my government to pursue productive and peaceful relations between our two nations.

Before proceeding any further, allow me to briefly explain about our country. There may be some of us who wish to better know Indonesia, the largest archipelagic country in the world. It has more than 220 million inhabitants and consists of around 18.000 islands of which only about 6,000 are inhabited while more than 10,000 are yet to be named.

Geographically, Indonesia forms a crossroad between two oceans, the Pacific and the Indian oceans, and a bridge between two continents, Asia and Australia.

Indonesia’s demographic diversity, geographic condition, and strategic position definitely have bearings on its overall outlook. We have however to thank our Creator that all Indonesians speak a Malay-based language, underlining the fact that the nation is culturally and historically united as our national motto ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ – united in diversity – rightly depicted.

Indeed, Indonesians belong to more than 350 ethnic groups spread from Sabang in Northern Sumatra to Merauke in Papua, with each group having distinct language, art, tradition and costume. The Javanese community is the largest of the ethnic groups, followed by the Sundanese, Madurese, Minangkabau, Buginese, Batak, Balinese, Ambonese, Acehnese, Papuan, and others. Other communities of foreign descent such as Chinese, Arabs and Indians have also long participated in enriching our nation. Better still, in this diverse country, all major religions are welcome and equally treated, as sanctioned by the newly amended constitution. Around 88.22% Indonesians are Moslems and about 8.92% or about 19 million are Christians, and about 3% are Buddhist and Hindus. In Indonesia, we celebrate all religious holidays.

After taking charge of its own destiny in 1997, the Indonesian people have so far organized nine general elections. And, for the first time, on September 20^th, 2004, elected its current national leader – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – through a direct popular vote, an election widely acclaimed by the world as the biggest, cleanest, most peaceful and fair democratic election with registered voters of 155 million.

The reform that has taken place in Indonesia since 1997 is also an effective indicator that the whole region has dramatically changed since the turn of this new century. Indonesia, which at one time was governed by a dictator, is now being classified as among the freest and most democratic countries in the region.

Indeed, few would disagree that Indonesia is now the freest and most open society in Southeast Asia. The parliament, the press and non-governmental organizations are now an integrated part of Indonesian politics. Therefore, it is a fact that Indonesian officials are currently living in the glass house and can no longer throw stones.

Turning now to Indonesia’s foreign policy let me assure you that it is solely designed to strive for a meaningful contribution to the creation of a world that is peaceful, prosperous, free, and socially just. Indonesia has accordingly tried hard to continuously improve its international relations with friendly countries in accordance with the principles of international conventions and regulations.

In an attempt to create such a peaceful, prosperous, free, and socially just world, Indonesia has always valued the cooperation of countries in the Pacific region. It is therefore no coincidence that Indonesia decided to establish diplomatic relations with Vanuatu in 1995 which was marked by a Joint Communiqué signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of both governments. The Communiqué underlines the commitment of the two governments to developing their cooperation in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the Non-Aligned Movement, and based upon the principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

Relations between Indonesia and Vanuatu have since been continuing to improve in which exchange of visits has been arranged through the years between the officials of both governments. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Moana Carcasses Kalosil, was the first Vanuatu government high-ranking officer to visit Indonesia from March 6^th to 10^th, 2004, during which he together with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayudha co-signed a Joint Communiqué reaffirming both countries’ commitment to develop bilateral relations and cooperation based on mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s affairs, equality and mutual benefit.

The Ministers also underlined the importance of a comprehensive approach to solving other problems such as the problem of Papua through the primacy of dialogue and the implementation of special autonomy status within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

Indeed, the newly-elected President Yudhoyono is strongly committed to finding a peaceful solution to the problem in Papua, based on Law No.: 21/2001 that allows ample rooms for the local communities to take benefit from the region’s economic development while at the same time exercising their rights to participate in the decision-making process on matters pertinent to their own future. Much need to be done its implementation. But one thing is sure, the Indonesian government is determined to move forward and ready to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Papuans’ interests are protected and promoted.

To value the importance of relations between Indonesia and Vanuatu, the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Bungaran Saragih, visited Port Vila from April 29^th, 2004 to May 1^st, 2004 in an effort to strengthening cooperation between our two countries, especially in the agricultural sector. The visit in fact signified the very strong attention of Indonesia towards the countries in the South Pacific especially Vanuatu, considering that our two countries have similarities and proximities in many different areas as agrarian countries including culture and tradition.

In this regard, I noted recently that the Lapita people, Vanuatu’s first inhabitants, have been traced as having come from Eastern Indonesia over 3,000 years ago. The number of similarities between the two countries and nations is a strong reason for us to improve and develop a constructive bilateral cooperation in the long term which is mutually beneficial for our nations. During his visit, the Minister also offered some tractors to be donated to Vanuatu and I am happy to announce that these will be delivered to Vanuatu in the very near future.

The relations between both countries reached their peak when President Kalkot Mataskelekele and Mrs. Hanson Mataskelekele along with his delegation visited Indonesia last month to mark the 90^th Asia – Africa Conference. He met with President Yudhoyono in Jakarta, signifying the importance of improving the bilateral ties between the two countries.

The Indonesian people and government were also recently very touched by the generosity of the people and government of Vanuatu for offering their help, money, sympathy and prayers for the loss and grief suffered by the people of Indonesia during the December earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra. I am therefore delighted to be here so soon after the tragedy to personally thank you for your act of compassion and generosity.

To further deepen the relationship, the Indonesian government has been offering some programs for the people of Vanuatu. The program so far includes scholarships for post-graduates and for cultural studies. The main purpose of these programs is to provide the people of Vanuatu with understanding of our culture which has – as I mentioned earlier – many similarities.

If I may mention, we have been providing a post-graduate scholarship program to Mr. Graham Kalosil Patas. He is now studying at the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, in food science and technology. We also provided the arts and cultural program to Mr. Johny Nimau and Mr. Japheth Yevi, even though they cancelled the scholarships at the last minute due to personal reasons. Likewise, Mrs. Finau Olivia William from Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation has also accepted and followed our program on TV Program Production Using Digital Technology. We hope that more scholarship programs would be allocated to ni-Vanuatu in the future. And, I encourage ni- Vanuatu to participate in the programs in order to improve understanding at the people-to-people level.

At the broader level of bilateral trade, the volume of trade between our two countries is still relatively small, although I note, from the latest figures I have, that Indonesia was Vanuatu’s fifth largest export market, behind Japan but ahead of Australia. Principal items among these are pleasure craft and other light vessels, medicinal herbs, cocoa beans, electric plugs and sockets. Indonesia’s export to Vanuatu include a broader range of products such as electronics, paper, plastic, textile and rubber products, ceramics, and furniture.

There is clearly considerable scope for the further development of trade for the mutual benefit of both countries, and I hope that both private sectors begin to explore the possibilities. Indonesia has many potential buyers, including a growing middle class. Your meat, for example, has an excellent reputation in Indonesia for its quality and taste. The opportunities in products such as cattle, meat, chocolate, I am sure are there for taking.

My personal commitment and attachment to this beautiful country is beyond doubt. I have so far visited Vanuatu four times. My visit reflects a continuation of building a coherent cooperation between our two countries particularly since the official visit of President Mataskelekele to Indonesia last month. We highly value our relationship with Vanuatu.

We are delighted that Vanuatu’s foreign policy has been adjusted to the demands of the global and regional developments. Vanuatu’s support for including Indonesia as one of the members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group has been very much appreciated. This shows that Vanuatu has a noble intention to truly take Indonesia as a partner in pursuing the interests of the Melanesians society in the Pacific region and indeed beyond.

In fact, the population of Indonesian Melanesian is about 12 million, 10% of them reside in Papua. This number shows that Indonesia’s Melanesians are much larger than those in all of the Pacific countries combined. It is therefore logical for Indonesia to be included as a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

To conclude, let me take this opportunity to call on all of us to put aside our differences and work in concert instead in order to establish a peaceful, prosperous, free, and socially just region. We – Indonesians – stand ready to contribute to the development of Vanuatu and ni-Vanuatu.

Thank you.

Port Vila, 20 May 2005

Imron Cotan
Ambassador