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The new foreign ambassadors: Who are they?
President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has received the letters of credence from eight new ambassadors of Japan, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Mongolia and Ireland
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resident Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has received the letters of credence from eight new ambassadors of Japan, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Mongolia and Ireland.
Among the eight ambassadors, the most important one will be the new Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Yasuaki Tanizaki, especially for the soon-to-be President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and his administration.
Japan, a country once called the 'ATM of Indonesia' before the 1998 Asian financial crisis, is currently Indonesia's second-largest trading partner and foreign investor. Japan, with the world's third-largest economy, can provide much needed investment funds for Jokowi's ambitious infrastructure projects. Between 2010 and the end of June 2014, Japan's direct investments in Indonesia reached US$10.19 billion.
Ambassador Tanizaki, a law graduate from the prestigious Tokyo University, is one of Japan's most talented diplomats. He joined the foreign service in 1975 and has worked in Austria, the Philippines, Russia, Germany and Vietnam. The day Jokowi becomes Indonesia's seventh president on Oct. 20 is the day Tanizaki will turn 63 years old.
Southeast Asia is not new to Tanizaki. He just finished his ambassadorial tenure in Vietnam in 2013. He received several awards in Vietnam for strengthening relations between Japan and Vietnam. In 1994, he visited Indonesia.
Prior to coming to Indonesia, according to the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia, Tanizaki was working as director general of Japan's Foreign Service Training Institute. He came to Indonesia with the weighty mission of bringing Japan and Indonesia closer together in order to help counter China's domination of the region. It seems the new ambassador was happy to be in Indonesia.
'Our ambassador came to Jakarta on Sept. 20. He is very happy to work in Indonesia, the biggest country in Southeast Asia,' the Japanese Embassy's deputy chief of mission Yusuke Shindo told The Jakarta Post.
Sweden has sent a female ambassador to Indonesia for the third time in a row. Ambassador Johanna Brismar Skoog, a graduate of Lund University, is a diplomat well-known for her expertise in the affairs of the United Nations and on issues concerning humanitarian aid, peace, conflict resolution, women and children's rights and development assistance.
Southeast Asia and Indonesia may be new to her as she is an expert on Latin American affairs, but the problems and issues in Indonesia and the region are not new to Ambassador Skoog. She joined the Swedish Foreign Ministry in 1987.
The Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia is also a woman. Her name is Paiva Marjatta Hiltunen-Toivio. Ambassador Hiltunen-Toivio is an adept Finnish bureaucrat and diplomat who worked in various ministries in her country's government. She, a law graduate from the University of Helsinki, speaks Finnish, Swedish, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.
She has worked in Peru, Belgium, Ireland, China and Czech Republic. Her previous ambassadorial posting was in Prague from 2010 to 2014.
The new Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia Yvonne Baumann, a woman, is also a career diplomat. Prior to coming to Jakarta, she worked as the head of the Swiss diplomatic mission in Santiago, Chile.
Begium's new Ambassador to Indonesia, Patrick Hermann, is a career diplomat with a lot of experience in foreign trade and economic diplomacy.
Danish Ambassador Casper Klynge is a dynamic diplomat with lot of experience in conflict areas. Klynge previously worked in Kosovo, Cyprus and Afghanistan. His most recent previous posting was in Cyprus as an ambassador.
