Toespraak Rutte in Jakarta voor Indonesische alumni

Toespraak | 20-11-2013

Alumni, friends of the Netherlands, ladies and gentlemen,

It’s good to see you all here today. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, and I invite you to share your ideas on the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia when we open up the discussion. What is going well? What is not? What can we do better in the future? What can we learn from each other? How can we keep supporting each other? I’m especially interested in your answers to these questions as you have first-hand experience of the Netherlands.

Given its role as a cultural meeting place for our two countries, the Erasmus Huis is the perfect location for today’s event. But it’s also a symbolic location.

• It says a lot that we should meet here, in a Dutch enclave in a world capital like Jakarta, to talk about our countries’ future relationship.
• It says a lot about the special historical ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands.
• It says a lot about the forward-looking friendship between our countries.
• It says a lot about the importance of personal networks in our evolving global village.

But above all, it says everything about your strong personal connection with our country. A connection that we in the Netherlands value. Since the 1950s, around 20,000 young Indonesians have studied in the Netherlands. And right now there are about twelve hundred of them. The oldest Indonesian student association in the world, PPI Belanda, was founded in the Netherlands in 1922. And it’s still going strong, with more than two thousand members.

So you are part of a long tradition with a promising future. Because in a way, you and all the other Indonesian alumni of Dutch colleges and universities are the oil in the wheels of our two countries’ working relationship. You know our culture, our language and our customs – however odd some of them might seem!

This makes you ambassadors for a relationship that has always been important, and will only become more important in the future. And did you know that one in every ten Dutch people has a special bond with Indonesia? It is often a matter of family history, as in my case. My parents lived and worked here for a long time before I was born, and so Indonesia has become part of my personal history too. That makes this visit extra special for me.

But for many young people in the Netherlands, it is not the past that defines their relationship with Indonesia, but the future. The same applies to you and all the other young Indonesians who have gone to the Netherlands to invest in their own futures.

The number of partnerships and joint projects between our countries’ universities, knowledge institutions and companies continues to grow. This is partly because Indonesia and the Netherlands face similar challenges, for example in the area of flood protection. And in the wake of those challenges our mutual economic interests are also growing. It’s no coincidence that I am joined on this trip by the largest business delegation ever to visit Indonesia. It is made up of some 110 companies that all see opportunities in working more closely with Indonesia. And it includes global players like Unilever, FrieslandCampina and Philips. The opportunities are certainly there.

The Netherlands is already Indonesia’s main European export destination, and thanks to the port of Rotterdam, we are also your gateway to the rest of Europe. For our part, we are the biggest European investor in Indonesia, and last year trade between our countries rose by 18 per cent, defying all economic trends. That says something about the promise our relationship holds. We can still learn a lot from each other and do a lot for each other. And believe me: in the Netherlands, we admire the way Indonesia is developing. To start with, there’s the economy: Indonesia enjoys annual growth of five or six per cent – figures we can only dream of in Europe. Your country currently has the 16th-biggest economy in the world. By 2030 it could well be the seventh-biggest. That kind of rapid growth is an amazing achievement. Indonesia is writing economic history.

My respect for this achievement is all the greater in view of the many other positive developments supporting this intense economic growth. The middle class is expanding rapidly, poverty is declining and robust institutions are taking shape. This is helping to create a climate in which people develop the confidence to invest in themselves and their surroundings. And I have equal respect for the way Indonesia has shown its willingness to take responsibility for the global challenges we face.

As a member of the G20, for example, and as one of the driving forces behind ASEAN. Playing this active role is important – not only for your country’s future, but for that of other countries, too. Some issues today are simply too big for countries to tackle alone. How are we going to feed nine billion people in 2050? How should we adapt globally to the rise in sea level and the mounting flood risk in our large river deltas? What effect will higher life expectancy have on health care in the future? How can we make sure that our cities remain both accessible and pleasant places to live? These are only a few of the issues we face. You in Indonesia. We in the Netherlands. People all over the world. These big issues will be at the heart of the contacts forged between Indonesian and Dutch companies and knowledge institutions during this visit. They are issues that call for knowledge-exchange and collaboration. Across national and regional boundaries. And that means we need people like you. People with enough curiosity to step out of their comfort zone. People with the ambition and drive to get ahead in life. People who are open to other cultures and other ways of thinking. Fortunately, it’s now easier than ever to engage with other cultures and ideas. And the contacts between us are closer than ever, too. In that respect we live in a marvellous age.

In the last century, my parents travelled from the Netherlands to Indonesia by boat. The voyage took weeks. Now, a few decades later, our countries are only a mouse click away from each other. In a short time, the internet, Skype and social media have given us new and exciting ways of working together and helping each other. And it’s paying off. Certainly here in Indonesia, with its young population and enterprising spirit. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you will remember this Dutch saying from your time in the Netherlands: ‘Wat je van ver haalt, is lekker.’ It means, ‘Exotic food tastes good,’ and as a big fan of Indonesian cuisine, I can only agree. But this idea goes way beyond food, of course. Knowledge acquired in the outside world enriches us. You can’t beat personal contact in international relations. And that is why it’s so important that we keep investing in programmes that allow young people to go to the Netherlands to study and get to know the country. You are living proof that this provides a triple benefit. For you and your careers. For Indonesia. And for the Netherlands, too. Because with every new Indonesian student we gain an ambassador in a country that has always been, and always will be, extremely important to us.

Dank u wel. Terima Kasih.