The President of the Council of States, Claude Hêche, travelled to Indonesia from 14 to 19 November, where he held official talks and visited several projects. Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia in terms of area and population, and with a population of 250 million is the third-largest democracy in the world. During his stay in Jakarta, he was received by his counterpart, Irman Gusman, Speaker of the Regional Representative Council as well as by the Speaker of the People's Representative Council and the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, the umbrella body of the two legislative councils. He also paid a courtesy visit to the Deputy Foreign Minister, A. M. Fachir, taking the opportunity to conduct an exchange of views at governmental level.
Mr Hêche spoke out in favour of closer bilateral relations and expressed the wish to see a stronger Swiss economic presence in Indonesia. With this in mind, he encouraged the continuation of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the EFTA countries and Indonesia, which would add renewed dynamics to relations between the two countries. He also expressed the wish to initiate negotiations on a new agreement on the promotion and protection of investments as soon as possible.
Switzerland and Indonesia have excellent long-standing relations. Switzerland has a well established presence in Indonesia with approximately 150 companies, creating more than 60,000 jobs. Switzerland also accords Indonesia priority in its foreign economic policy, especially in its economic development and cooperation policy. The Sustainable Cocoa Production Programme (SCPP) is one of the flagship programmes of Switzerland’s trade support in Indonesia; it aims to improve by 2020 the quality and quantity of the production of the 130,000 small Indonesian cocoa producers located in 41 districts and nine provinces, mainly in the regions of Sulawesi, Sumatra and Nusa Tenggara.
During his stay Mr Hêche devoted a considerable amount of his time to a number of different projects of the economic cooperation and development programme conducted by the two countries, and went to Sulawesi to talk with the different stakeholders in the cocoa production chain, ranging from the small producer to representatives of major cocoa manufacturers, as well as representatives of the local authorities and communities. He commended the success of this programme, which is the largest and most fruitful public-private partnership in the Indonesian agricultural sector. To date, the SCPP has contributed to raising the producers’ productivity by an average of 55%, with annual production increasing from 450 to 700 kg per hectare.
In addition, Mr Hêche visited the Technical Academy for Manufacturing Engineering (ATMI) in Cikarang. This institute uses the same proven dual-track approach to VET as in Switzerland, combining 60% practical work with 40% theory. The pilot project in Cikarang aims to establish a training facility that offers the dual-track approach for mechatronics technicians and engineers, hydraulic engineers and electricians, and to integrate a centre of expertise at tertiary level in order to ensure knowledge and technology transfer.
Earlier this month, Switzerland decided to support an initiative of a Swiss association, SITECO, to strengthen its involvement in Indonesia in the field of VET by signing a protocol agreement establishing the Polytechnic Association of Indonesia (ASPI), which aims to develop and to put in place the dual-track approach to VET for Indonesian polytechnic schools in cooperation with Indonesian companies.
Mr Hêche’s official trip to Indonesia concluded with a visit to a manufacturing facility of the Swiss company ABB for air insulated medium voltage switchgear in Tangerang, 25km from the centre the Indonesian capital Jakarta, which has only just opened and is part of ABB’s planned investment in Indonesia of USD 20 million. The air insulated medium voltage switchgear, which ABB makes in Indonesia, is designed to meet the growing demand for electricity distribution technology.
Mr Hêche praised the high quality of the investment and the results obtained by the representatives of the Swiss and Indonesian institutions and NGOs, especially the Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia, Yvonne Baumann, and her very dynamic team. During his trip Mr Hêche was accompanied by his foreign policy advisor, Cédric Stucky.
Bern, 23 November 2015 Parliamentary Services