Contributed Article “New Leadership, New Hope” by Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru to the Indonesian Newspaper Kompas

Everyone in Indonesia, Selamat Tahun Baru!

I am visiting Southeast Asia for my first bilateral overseas visit since taking office as Japan’s Prime Minister last October. Indonesian President Prabowo also took office the same month. I am delighted to visit Indonesia now, when the new administrations have just been inaugurated in both countries. Founded on more than 60 years of traditionally friendly relations, Indonesia and Japan have built a close cooperative relationship in a wide range of fields, including politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges. In 2023, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited Indonesia for their first overseas goodwill visit following His Majesty’s accession to the throne. It is a testament to the longstanding trust between the two countries connected heart to heart.

Through my visit, I hope to further develop our bilateral relationship as Comprehensive Strategic Partners, by strengthening cooperation on regional and international issues, in addition to bilateral cooperation.

First, to support President Prabowo’s wish to provide nutritious school meals to children in Indonesia, on this occasion Japan has decided to offer training on school meal operations for the National Nutrition Agency, and to dispatch experts. Along with this initiative, to support Indonesia’s achievement of food self-sufficiency and regional revitalization, Japan will also provide assistance for promoting the fisheries and agriculture industries, such as developing fishing ports and markets, including on outer islands and in local areas.

In the area of disaster risk reduction, Indonesia and Japan have been cooperating with each other as countries prone to natural disasters. With a view to making the countries more disaster resilient, we will continue to collaborate on volcanic disaster prevention, flood control, and other measures. Last month marked 20 years since the major earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and tsunami in the Indian Ocean that claimed many precious lives and caused catastrophic devastation. I once again express my heartfelt condolences. In 2011, Japan experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, and in its aftermath, we received warm and encouraging support from the people of Indonesia. I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again for that warm and reassuring support.

Japan also intends to further enhance economic cooperation to support Indonesia’s sustainable growth. To be specific, we will carry out human resource development including training programs for thousands of Indonesian government officials and others. We will also work together in further advancing the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project, the Patimban Port development project, and in materializing the concept of Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), an initiative for promoting energy transition toward decarbonization, which is also a global agenda.

Across the region and the globe, the security environment is becoming increasingly severe. Any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion is unacceptable anywhere in the world. Japan is working to lead the world toward cooperation rather than division or confrontation. To realize a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law, Japan attaches importance to collaboration with Indonesia, which is a Comprehensive Strategic Partner sharing fundamental values and principles and one of the leading countries in the Global South.

From this perspective, Japan will advance security cooperation in a multilayered manner with Indonesia as a fellow maritime nation, including through providing a large patrol vessel for the coast guard agency as decided in 2023, holding Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meetings (“2+2”) and extending Official Security Assistance (OSA). Furthermore, based on my experience as a Minister of Defense, I believe that the key to cooperation between defense authorities lies in people-to-people ties. I look forward to developing a more robust network by fostering exchanges and human resource development for the next generation of defense authorities, including welcoming Indonesian students to Japan’s National Defense Academy.

As the only ASEAN member of the G20 and a major country in the Global South, Indonesia's role in solving various issues in the regional and international community is becoming increasingly important. I am confident that Indonesia's future accession to the OECD will support the country's further sustainable economic growth. Japan has consistently supported Indonesia's accession to the OECD and will actively cooperate to ensure steady progress in this process.

Regarding the turbulent situation in Gaza, I believe there is growing potential for cooperation between Japan and Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, to work together in supporting Palestine. Japan launched the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) in 2013, under which it has collaborated with Indonesia to provide support for Palestine over many years. During my visit to Indonesia, I would like to further enhance Japan’s cooperation with Indonesia on the situation in Gaza, including through working together in providing agricultural support for Palestine.

The close, friendly, and cooperative relations between Indonesia and Japan have also been underpinned by people-to-people exchanges. The number of Indonesians residing in Japan reached approximately 170,000. The number of visitors from Indonesia to Japan in 2023 reached approximately 430,000, a record high. Indonesians living in my home Tottori Prefecture has also increased in number significantly, and there are growing interactions between our two nations across Japan. Indonesian students make up the largest share of international students studying in Japan with a Japanese government scholarship, and Indonesians are also active in Japan with other various qualifications such as technical intern trainees, specified skilled workers, and caregivers. I hope to continue working with Indonesia to promote such people-to-people exchanges.

From April this year, the Osaka-Kansai Expo will start in Japan under the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”. I know that Indonesia will be exhibiting a pavilion with a ship motif under the theme of “Thriving in Harmony”, which fuses nature, culture and the future. From the perspective of promoting human and economic exchange, I would like to invite as many people from Indonesia as possible to come and experience the future that Japan is drawing with the world, as well as to promote business matching.

In closing, I sincerely wish for the happiness of the people of Indonesia, and hope that the friendship between our countries and people founded on mutual understanding and respect will continue for many years to come.