SBY and Dutch PM Rutte Oversee Signing of Two Cooperation Deals

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, November 21, 2013

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte hold Wednesday’s edition of the Jakarta Globe
after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (JG Photo)

The Indonesian and Dutch governments have signed two cooperations deals officiated on Wednesday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

One cooperation agreement was signed by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Dutch Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Lilianne Ploumen.

The second deal, on water management, was signed by Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sharif C. Sutardjo and Dutch Agriculture Minister Sharon Dijksma.

“The relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands is good and developing,” Yudhoyono said after the deal signing.

“We believe the countries, through effective cooperation, can do better for both our interests.”

Yudhoyono noted that the economic relationship between the two countries was quite promising. In 2012, amid the global economic crisis, total trade between Indonesia and Netherlands still reached $5 billion.

“We have agreed to develop the cooperation in various concrete sectors and we have agreed to find new opportunities,” he said.

Rutte, in an interview with the Jakarta Globe in the Netherlands before his trip, said that the Dutch had always had to deal with high water and sea waves in order to survive, as the Netherlands is partly below sea level. He added that his country could provide state-of-the-art technology, developed to combat these problems, for Indonesia to use.

“It’s time for the Netherlands to empower Indonesians by equipping them to fish, not by merely providing the fish,” said Jesse Kuijper, a businessman who was to join the delegation visiting Indonesia.

In logistics, Dutch companies could help Indonesia build world class seaports. In agriculture, several Dutch firms have offered their Indonesian counterparts investment and technology to enable the country’s farmers to reap high crop yields— at a time when prices are rising and the nation is struggling to feed its people.

Rutte has said that Europe and the Netherlands are facing tough times.

“We have a difficult period at the moment. I do believe that we have made good strides but there is still a long way to go,” he said, adding that he admired Indonesia’s high economic growth of around 6 percent annually.

“We are jealous,” he said, smiling.

The latest figures from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics show the Netherlands economy grew by just 0.1 percent in the last quarter.

CBS also reported that there were 46,000 fewer jobs in the third quarter.

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