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RI opens ties with Cook Islands, Niue
Fresh start: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna sign an agreement to open diplomatic ties between the two countries on Friday on the sidelines of the Pacific Exposition in Auckland, New Zealand
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resh start: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna sign an agreement to open diplomatic ties between the two countries on Friday on the sidelines of the Pacific Exposition in Auckland, New Zealand.(JP/Dian Septiari)
Indonesia has opened new diplomatic relationships with two South Pacific countries, Cook Islands and Niue, in a move to strengthen ties in the region.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi signed the joint communiques stating the establishment of the relations with the Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna and Niue Premier Toke Talagi on the sidelines of the Pacific Exposition in Auckland, New Zealand, on Friday.
“When we have official relations, it will be easier for us to increase cooperation […] and it will be easier to address [any future] issues that might emerge,” Retno said.
According to Retno, Niue was hoping for more cooperation with Indonesia in fisheries and sustainable development. She noted the trade relations Indonesia has with Niue had already grown to US$129.2 million last year from $52.5 million in 2017.
“Opening diplomatic relations will allow us to map out the opportunities that we can explore,” she said.
At the opening ceremony of the Pacific Exposition, Niue, which is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand, raised concerns about the effects of climate change, with its Premier Toke Talagi lamenting that “every morning there’s a chance that water will be lapping in and in our houses”.
The four-day expo has been organized by Indonesia to provide opportunities for South Pacific countries to showcase their top commodities and investment potential. All 19 South Pacific countries except Vanuatu exhibited their products at the Skycity Auckland convention center, where the event is being held.
Meanwhile, the Cook Islands, which is also a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand, has so far relied mainly on tourism for its economic growth. Some 161,000 tourists, mostly New Zealanders, visited the country in 2017, the highest it has accepted, according to a local news source.
Retno said it turned out that there were 200 Indonesians working in tourist sector in Cook Islands and Prime Minister Puna, according to Retno, expressed high appreciation for their work ethic.
“They [Cook Islands] face the challenge of worker shortages, while we, Indonesia, want to send more workers [abroad]. This is an opportunity — which will be easier to discuss when we have official relations,” she said.
Puna earlier said that he wanted to find ways to diversify his country’s economy beyond tourism on the grounds that tourism was “an area that is vulnerable to the possibilities of natural disasters and other climate-related events”.
“At the current rate the Cook Islands does not have the infrastructure or the environmental capacity to deal with the continued rise in tourism numbers,” he said.
Indonesia’s interest in the region has emerged against the backdrop of Indonesia’s effort to protect its interests, especially its territorial integrity and sovereignty, as 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.
The issue of Papua has made it into Indonesia’s foreign policy priorities this year, following Retno’s pledge to strengthen the Melanesian kinship not only among the provinces in the eastern part of Indonesia but also with the countries of the South Pacific, in a swift move to counter potential interventions in Indonesian sovereignty.
In March, Indonesia held the Indonesia-South Pacific Forum (ISPF) in Jakarta, inviting 15 countries and offering various activities including government-to-government consultations in various areas, especially climate change.
Vanuatu was the last remaining country to raise the issue at the UN General Assembly last year and attempted to smuggle Papuan separatist figure Benny Wenda into its delegation when meeting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in January.
While Vanuatu was represented by its high commissioner in Friday’s opening ceremony of the Pacific Exposition, it did not open any booth at the exhibition.
