Andy Rachmianto - Courtesy of the Foreign Ministry

Career diplomat Andy Rachmianto has set an ambitious target for himself as he prepares to assume his post as Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan and Palestine.

Andy wants to ensure that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will be able to embark on a tour of the Middle East next year, with possible stopovers in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine.

And while it is still unlikely an Indonesian leader will be able to visit Palestine — two foreign ministers have tried and failed to enter the country, even after seeking permission from Israeli authorities — Andy said he was seeking to arrange a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan in 2018.

“President Jokowi may be able to meet with Abbas in Amman; it will be extraordinarily symbolic given the government’s commitment to support the establishment of the Palestinian nation-state,” the outgoing director for international security and disarmament told The Jakarta Post recently.

Indonesia has been a staunch proponent of Palestinian independence, with Jokowi reiterating this longtime historical commitment as one of his campaign promises ahead of the 2014 presidential elections. Jakarta does not have any formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

Besides continued political support for the Palestinian agenda, Jakarta has championed various forms of technical cooperation and capacity-building measures to prepare the Palestinian people for nationhood.

As ambassador-designate, Andy pledged to conclude negotiations for a 5 percent import tax waiver on Palestinian products marketed in Indonesia, particularly dates and olive oil. He said it was a concession the government could afford given the relatively small volume of trade.

Two-way trade between Indonesia and Palestine stood at US$2.5 million last year, with only $284,000 in Palestinian imports recorded.

Equally important, Andy will pull strings so that President Jokowi will be able to visit Amman next year, a reciprocal gesture that serves to deepen bilateral ties with the Jordanian government.

The Jordanian king previously visited Indonesia in 2014 for bilateral consultations and again in 2015 to attend the 65th Asia Africa Commemorative Conference in Bandung, West Java.

Jordan is considered a strategic ally for Indonesia in the Middle East, Andy said.

The Hashemite kingdom holds a key role in the Arab League, being one of two countries in the region to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel.

The largely landlocked country is ruled by King Abdullah II, who has been conferred with the status of Guardian to Al-Quds Al-Sharif as a result of his ancestral link to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, making him a worthy ally in the Middle East Peace Process, Andy argued.

Al-Quds Al-Sharif is the Arab term designating the city of Jerusalem, a major point of contention in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Andy also said Jordan geographically was situated in the center of the Middle East, making it the perfect hub for Indonesia to extend its dealings around the region.

He said the two partners were currently drafting a cooperation agreement between Jordan’s waterfront city Aqaba and Indonesia’s Batam Free Zone Authority (BP Batam) in experience-sharing, as well as possibly opening an Indonesian products warehouse for storing trade merchandise waiting to be re-exported to third countries.

“My target is for Indonesia to be able to close the gap in trade deficits and maybe return to the peak trade volume of $500 million from 2012,” Andy said.

According to the Trade Ministry, the volume of trade between Indonesia and Jordan reached $256 million in 2016, with the latter benefiting from a trade surplus of $75.6 million.

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