Peter Schoff (JP/Agnes Anya)

The new German ambassador, Peter Schoff, is seeking to level up interactions between Germans and Indonesians to enable more discussions and experience exchanges on interfaith tolerance and democracy among the two countries.

Schoff, who presented his letter of credentials on Nov. 8, explained that there were “not enough” discussions yet on, among other matters, political, social, and cultural issues between Germans and Indonesians despite their great curiosity.

“When I finally came to Indonesia, I got a lot of questions on how Muslims are treated in Germany or how Germany’s political situation would be after [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel,” he told The Jakarta Post during a courtesy visit to the Post‘s editorial office recently.

Schoff, who was posted to the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva in the 1990s, added that he was impressed with Indonesia’s initiative on democracy, the Bali Democracy Forum. A session was held in Berlin in September and dubbed the Bali Democracy Forum Berlin Chapter.

The forum, he said, aroused his curiosity about Indonesia’s vibrant political and social dynamics, which are distinguished by diversity, despite having the world’s largest Muslim population.

Considering these issues, during his tenure Schoff said he wanted to establish ties with civil society groups, advocates and other parties engaged in democracy, interfaith dialogue and other sectors that promoted openness and peace.

With the relationship, he wished for more activities, such as workshops and discussions, on these topics.

“I am also open to civil societies or lawyers engaging in such issues whenever they want to discuss them with us or want to team up with us,” said Schoff, who was accompanied by the German Embassy’s press attaché Jorg Kinnen.

Kinnen said that dialogue on topics such as democracy and equality were matters of interest to the embassy, which had held discussions on various social, political, and cultural topics, including a seminar on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in Yogyakarta in 2017.

While the engagement was among his top priorities, Schoff also aims to further promote both countries’ ties, particularly on vocational training, which was agreed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Merkel in 2016 — the most recent bilateral meeting between high-level officials from both countries.

Following the agreement, the two countries signed a letter of intent to deepen their partnership in the field of technical and vocational education and training.

With the signing, Jakarta accepted Berlin’s involvement in assisting the establishment of an internship program for vocational students, where the interns would be placed in German companies.

Schoff said he would continue this momentum by inviting Germany’s foreign minister next year.

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