Indonesia and Norway are embracing stronger bilateral relations with the visit of the Scandinavian country’s foreign minister to Jakarta. The two countries have not only agreed to enhance economic and environment cooperation but also to resume dialogue on human rights.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi welcomed her Norwegian counterpart Borge Brende for his first ministerial visit to Jakarta. The two opened the 12th Indonesia-Norway Human Rights Dialogue, a discussion that has been pending for four years, before conducting the second Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).

The human rights discussion was first initiated in 2002 and held annually until 2012 to provide better understanding and knowledge on human rights in the two countries. The discussions went into hiatus due to difficult schedules, officials said.

Regardless, Norway is the first country with whom Indonesia established a human rights dialogue and also the first country with whom Indonesia continued discussions for the last 14 years, Retno said in her opening remarks.

The dialogue remains sustainable because “it is far from being a finger-pointing exercise, it has resulted in concrete cooperation that benefits the two countries and it has a strong commitment to always promoting and protecting human rights,” she added.

“We cherish the maturity of our dialogue. But in a view to sustaining its relevance, we need to continuously adjust our agenda to the current affairs of human rights issues,” she said. “We should focus more on existing, specific challenges to human rights that are of common concern and interest.”

The issues discussed in the dialogue mainly focus on topics related to the armed forces, child rights and inter-religious tolerance, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s written statement.

It is not clear whether the two ministers touched on the issue of the death penalty in Indonesia, which has raised serious concerns in the international community as it is thought by many to constitute an aberration of the country’s commitment to human rights.

The two ministers pointed out to the need to promote tolerance, moderation and democracy to tackle rising extremism and radicalization. She also emphasized the need to engage multiple stakeholders to address conditions conducive to breeding extremism and radicalization.

Brende, meanwhile, praised Indonesia’s shift to democracy, while at the same time reminding those in attendance of the need to continue dialogue to sustain the results that have been achieved.

“When the dialogue first started, Indonesia had just embarked on its journey toward democracy after years of autocratic rule. Indonesia is today a very different place,” he said in his opening remarks. Dialogue on human rights is one of the most important pillars in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Besides human rights issues, the foreign ministries agreed at the JCBC meeting to enhance cooperation in three sectors, namely in the maritime and fisheries sector, the trade and investment sector and the environment.

Indonesia and Norway’s trade value reached around US$292 million last year and Retno said she and her counterpart agreed that there was ample room to grow that figure. Indonesia exports products such as clothes, furniture, footwear, coffee and tea to Norway, while the Nordic nation trades chemicals, machinery and sea products with Indonesia.

Retno added that Indonesia welcomed investment from Norway, especially in the maritime and infrastructure sectors.

The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating illegal fishing, with Brende noting how important it was for Indonesia and Norway to address the issue as they are both connected to the sea and have significant maritime interests.

The two countries have also agreed to strengthen commitment to the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), for which Norway has agreed to provide up to $1 billion in a multi-year investment to Indonesia to fund forest-related emissions reduction programs throughout the country.

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