Luhut Binsar Panjaitan： Indonesia Benefits Region as Crossroads of Oceans

Luhut Binsar Panjaitan， Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs， is a man with a long and diverse background. His time with the government began with the Indonesian military and includes stints as Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore， the Presidential Chief of Staff and the Coordinating Minister for Political， Legal and Security Affairs.

He has served governments including the current ruling party and previous coalition governments， and has visited China several times over the course of his career.

As a reporter who has worked in Indonesia for two years， I have had the good fortune of interviewing Panjaitan twice. A charming man who likes to joke during interviews， Panjaitan focused on the integration of the ocean development strategies of both China and Indonesia， as well as joint efforts in the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

>> China Report ASEAN： In efforts to jointly develop the marine economy， China and Indonesia need to synergize their respective strategies. Would you please shed some light on the current situation in this regard？

Panjaitan：President Joko Widodo [commonly referred to as Jokowi] and President Xi Jinping have met five times in the past two years. Top-level dialogue and exchanges are significant in strengthening the strategic partnership of cooperation.

At present， on the basis of mutual respect， the two sides can synergize China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Indonesia’s Global Maritime Nexus vision. They can also open a very frank dialogue on the questions or differences in some areas. For example， tourism has become a pillar industry of the Indonesian economy， especially in terms of foreign exchange.

The development of marine tourism has been the top priority of the Indonesian government in 2017. The Indonesian government aims to achieve the goal of 20 million foreign tourists per year by 2019. Chinese tourists are enthusiastic about overseas travel and have a high consumption capacity. They are a consumer group that the Indonesian government would like to attract. Therefore， when Jokowi proposed to President Xi that 10 million Chinese tourists could visit Indonesia in 2019， the two sides hit it off straight away. That is because Jokowi respects President Xi， and President Xi respects Jokowi in return.

Such a rapport between the top leaders is an important foundation for the two countries to further their maritime cooperation. What’s more， at the executive level， the two sides have established a smooth， efficient communication and coordination mechanism for the implementation of our common strategic objectives.

>> China Report ASEAN： Within the framework of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road， in what ways do you think China and Indonesia can complement each other in economic and trade cooperation？

Panjaitan： As a maritime country at the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean， connecting Asia and Oceania， Indonesia fully respects China’s important initiative of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. We have also noticed the support and welcome that the Silk Road Economic Belt has received from the countries along the route in Central Asia and Europe.

I think Indonesia can play an important strategic role in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road， especially in the connectivity among the countries along the route. After Jokowi took office， he initiated the strategic process of \"building a maritime power\"， unprecedented in Indonesian history. For example， to develop the marine economy and achieve balanced development across the country， Indonesia has intensified the development of the Sulawesi Islands. The economic growth rate of Central Sulawesi Province has reached 15.7 percent. There is an urgent need to develop the industries of energy， infrastructure and equipment manufacturing， stimulating the rapid rise in demand for steel， especially stainless steel. Last year， Chinese investors invested US$5.4 million there to build a nickel refinery factory.

This timely and efficient increase in quality production capacity has achieved win-win results for both sides. In 2017， investment is expected to increase to US$8.4 million. This is a typical example of complementary economic and trade cooperation， especially in production capacity， between the two countries.

>> China Report ASEAN： How is the cooperation between China and Indonesia significant in safeguarding and promoting the Indonesian people’s right to development？

Panjaitan： At present， there have been new uncertainties in the process of globalization， posing new challenges for developing countries such as Indonesia in their foreign relations， economic growth and political stability. This also put forward new requirements for China and Indonesia to strengthen strategic cooperation， especially in economics and trade.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country. The development of all Java's offshore islands as well as remote islands is a sizeable task with great potential. Besides， there remain more than 4，000 islands that have not yet been named. There’s a great demand for development in all areas. The development of those islands will be of great significance for revitalizing the Indonesian economy and promoting fairness across the country. Indonesia’s top priority in 2017 is to accelerate infrastructure construction and increase employment. Recently， Jokowi made special instructions that the bidding for major infrastructure projects should be concluded as soon as possible， so that the relevant work such as land requisition and financing can begin in January or February 2017. Some of the projects have benefited from Chinese investment.

It should be noted that there have been some misleading reports in the media about “illegal” Chinese workers in Indonesia. Social media has exacerbated such rumors. In reality， there’s no such thing as a mass export of Chinese labor to Indonesia. The Indonesian government and public should not be misled and overreact. Compared to Chinese labor in Indonesia， a greater number of Indonesians work in China. This is not something that the Chinese side has overreacted about.

Note： Recently， some Indonesian and Western media reports speculated that Chinese enterprises have exported a large amount of Chinese labor， including illegal labor， to Indonesia as investment has increased. Indonesian President Joko Widodo， Vice-President Jusuf Kalla and cabinet ministers have on several occasions clarified the situation. The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia also made a statement on this matter in a major Indonesian newspaper.