Indonesia is increasing its presence in the South Pacific by providing a new platform for countries in the region to strengthen cooperation in trade and skill-building, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Thursday as she opened the 2019 Indonesia-South Pacific Forum (ISPF) in Jakarta.

“As one Pacific family, for centuries we have shared similar social cultural traits and maritime geographic features. This also comes with common challenges, most notably in balancing our economic development and the sustainability of our oceans,” she said in her opening remarks at the Pancasila Building.

The forum was attended by government representatives and businesspeople from 15 nations including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Kiribati, as well as Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga and Tuvalu. New Caledonia and Niue — territories of France and New Zealand, respectively — were also represented.

The ISPF offers various activities including government-to-government consultations on connectivity and the marine economy, an Indonesia-South Pacific business forum, economic partnership showcases and entrepreneurship-training programs, the minister said.

The forum witnessed the signing of an agreement between Indonesia Exim Bank and Audie Building Industry, an Indonesian construction company that has several projects in the South Pacific. Indonesia also launched two separate negotiations for a preferential trade agreement with Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

The forum’s proceedings also coincided with the sixth round of delimitation negotiations between Indonesia and Palau, held concurrently in the Philippines.

“These developments show that the partnership between Indonesia and the South Pacific is entering a new era of more vibrant and intense cooperation, hence we need to expand our platform for dialogue to accommodate this new era,” Retno said.

In an opinion piece published in The Jakarta Post on Thursday, the minister stressed the importance of “meaningful dialogue” with South Pacific nations, and said that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stressed the need to invest in international development programs in the region. She also said there was tremendous untapped potential on the economic front between the two markets as trade relations remained relatively small at US$450 million.

“As I mentioned to you last night [at the high-level dialogue for Indo-Pacific cooperation], what Indonesia offers is [...] friendship and cooperation based on mutual respect, respect for territorial integrity and mutual benefits for all our people,” Retno told delegates in the opening ceremony.

The issues of territorial integrity and sovereignty have long been sticking points in relations between Indonesia and countries in the Pacific Ocean.

A number of Pacific island nations have in the past openly called for the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses in Papua and West Papua, which, in addition to a few other provinces in eastern Indonesia, have a majority-Melanesian ethnic make up.

However, Thursday’s forum saw South Pacific allies consolidate support for Indonesia. Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato said Indonesia’s big Melanesian population was just one feature of its diversity.

“We should look at this as a bond of unity between the Blue Pacific and Indonesia, and reject any move that may make it a cause of dispute,” he said, adding that countries in the region stood to reap economic and strategic benefits from interacting with Indonesia.

Tuvalu’s minister for foreign affairs and trade, Taukelina Finikaso, called the ISPF an “historic moment” in engagement between Indonesia and Pacific countries, especially in terms of climate change.

While most Pacific island nations have sought constructive relations with Indonesia, not all are on board. Vanuatu, which has drawn Jakarta’s criticism for its support of Papua separatist movements, was not invited to the forum.

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