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Indonesia, Cambodia on course for new shape of relationship
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Sealed with a handshake: Foreign Minister Retno Marsui shakes hand with her Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, during the visit of a Cambodian delegation at the Pancasila buillding of the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta. The visit was part of the fourth Indonesian-Cambodian Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation meeting, in which representatives of the two countries discussed partnerships in various fields. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
A
s Cambodia and Indonesia mark the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year, the two countries will together explore new possibilities to unlock the potential for shared interests and to further deepen their friendship and cooperation.
With a population of 259 million people, Indonesia accounts for about 41 percent of Southeast Asia’s total population of 635 million. Its gross domestic product (GDP) stood at US$932 billion in 2016, or 39 percent of Southeast Asia’s GDP.
Indonesia occupies a strategic location that links the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Since the resignation of president Soeharto in 1998 amid an economic crisis, democracy has taken root in Indonesia. Four general elections and three direct presidential elections have been conducted without violence since 1999, and the upcoming elections for the president and the national assembly in April are expected to proceed peacefully.
Indonesia is also a “country of youth”, with 28 percent of its population comprising people aged 14 or younger; the millennial generation, who came of age after the turn of the 21st century, plays an influential political and economic role. In addition, Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.
