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span class="inline inline-left">Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says that the nation’s foreign policy must shift focus in 2013 to promote economic development, justice and peace in the region.

The protection of Indonesian migrant workers was also among the nine points that the government would raise in its diplomacy in the region and across the globe this year, according to the foreign minister.

Marty said that the government would prioritize improving bilateral cooperation with strategic partners and other friendly countries in the areas of trade, investment, tourism, food and energy security, defense and the environment.

“This implies a refinement of our priority areas for cooperation with partner countries in line with the available potential and possibilities that each country provides,” Marty said in a speech here on Friday.

The strategic partners referred to by Marty comprise Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, France, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and Vietnam.

Marty said that Indonesia’s economic diplomacy would be geared toward expanding the country’s non-traditional markets, as well as promoting sustainable and balanced economic growth in the country and in Southeast Asia.

The minister also defined several foreign policy targets for 2013, including intensifying diplomacy with the nation’s bordering neighbors in accordance with Indonesia’s national interests and the provisions of international law and improving the protection of Indonesian citizens and workers overseas.

“In 2013, the protection of Indonesian citizens will continue to be a priority for our diplomacy and foreign policy,” he said.

After the meeting, Marty told journalists that the nation’s goal to protect migrant workers would, among other things, require host nations to provide two days off every week for Indonesian domestic workers as well as better payment.

Separately, the chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I on foreign affairs, Mahfudz Siddiq, applauded the ministry for prioritizing economic development in its diplomatic ties this year, saying it would bring significant improvement to Indonesia’s economy in general and to trade in particular.

“Commission I has actually been encouraging the ministry to focus on this issue for the last two years. Thus, we will fully support the Foreign Ministry in raising this issue later in all of the country’s diplomatic meetings,” Mahfudz said.

However, University of Indonesia (UI) analyst Makmur Keliat criticized the ministry for what he said were unfocused diplomacy priorities, saying that the many goals the government hoped to achieve this year would not maximize the country’s diplomatic efforts.

“I personally think that nine issues are too many to achieve. Priorities are supposed to be narrowed down to the most important things in order to work. Indonesia’s unfocused targets for diplomacy this year reflect the typical leadership style of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who always desires to reach too many goals,” Makmur said.

According to Makmur, Indonesia’s foreign diplomacy must focus on the country’s borders and the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, as both will have a direct impact on the country.