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COVID-19 challenges derail 65th RI-Poland anniversary events

The pandemic has left the global economy in tatters as the world struggles to cope with its adverse impacts

The Jakarta Post
Fri, May 29, 2020

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COVID-19 challenges derail 65th RI-Poland anniversary events

T

em>The pandemic has left the global economy in tatters as the world struggles to cope with its adverse impacts. For Indonesia and Poland, 2020 was supposed to be a “special year”, said Indonesian Ambassador to Poland Siti Nugraha Mauludiah in reference to the 65 years of diplomatic relations the two countries will mark this year.

Appointed to her post in March 2019, ambassador Siti recently spoke to The Jakarta Post’s Musthofid about the economic impacts on Indonesia-Poland bilateral ties and the relief efforts the embassy in Warsaw is providing to Indonesian citizens in Poland. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Question: How has the pandemic impacted Indonesia-Poland relations?

Answer: The COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world, including Poland, has affected economies everywhere. Poland’s [earlier] economic growth in 2020, which was projected at 3.7 percent, was corrected by its government on April 29 to minus 3.4 percent, [...] an economic contraction of almost 7-8 percent. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s economic growth in 2020 is also expected to [shrink]. The Indonesian Finance Minister stated on April 19 that Indonesia’s economic growth would decline 0.9 percentage points from the original target of 5.3 percent.

How do these economic indicators weigh on bilateral trade between Indonesia and Poland?

Noting these economic indicators, the Indonesian Embassy considers bilateral trade volumes will also decline by 10 to 12 percent. This will also depend on global economic growth, especially China and the EU, both of which are major trade partners to Indonesia and Poland. The number of tourists from Poland to Indonesia in 2020 is expected to decline by 60 percent. The absence of Polish visitors to Indonesia in April, May and June means a 25 percent drop from the normal rate over those three months alone.

What about Polish investment in Indonesia?

Poland’s investment sectors in Indonesia over the past five years have been in tourism, food and beverage, and mining and energy. The total investment value in 2015-2019 was US$40.82 million, the 14th largest foreign investment in Indonesia.

Some of these investment sectors, especially those related to tourism, have been hit hard around the world by the pandemic.

This year marks the 65th year of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Poland. What is your view with regard to the cancellation of several events the two countries had arranged?

We have had to either cancel or adjust those events. Among the cancelled events are the Indonesian Embassy’s participation in the Welconomy Forum in March and the Asian Congress in May, both in the city of Torun. We were also supposed to take part in the World Coffee Festival in June.

Planned visits by the Yogyakarta governor, the West Nusa Tenggara governor and Indonesian legislative delegates have also been cancelled. So has the Indonesian Festival in Warsaw in August.

What is the latest condition of the Indonesian citizens in Poland during the epidemic?

We have four students in quarantine in Lodz because two students in their dormitory tested positive for COVID-19. A migrant worker is also in quarantine at the embassy after making a trip to Germany.

What steps have the embassy taken to mitigate the COVID-19 impacts on Indonesian citizens?

Apart from forming a task force to offer counseling through social media, holding discussions by video call and distributing supplies, we are also coordinating with several ministries: The foreign ministry [and the immigration office] on the repatriation of our citizens, the defense ministry on the provision of veldbed [cots] and tents, the education ministry over dormitory assurances for students, the police, the national sanitation agency and provincial administrations on the quarantine process.

What issues are addressed during virtual discussions?

We ask about the students’ condition. They share many things from […] how they overcome boredom to the idea of [holding] a sharing session among the students. [Some] migrant workers [have issues] on working hours and wage cuts. Others [are] broke and have no money for food. Our core message is that the Indonesian Embassy is here to give a sense of security and can be contacted on the hotline.

What impacts of the outbreak require the embassy to step in and help migrant workers get home?

We have to facilitate them because airports in Poland are closed for commercial flights. International buses and trains are not operating either. Therefore, [Indonesian] citizens are stranded and cannot go home on normal flights.

How many Indonesian citizens have been repatriated so far?

We have helped a total of 42 citizens, mostly migrant workers, followed by students and tourists.

What was the urgency behind the request for cots and tents from the defense ministry?

We have turned [the embassy’s] gamelan room and garage into temporary shelters, but they can accommodate only 30 [people]. All hotels are closed. We planned to set up a tent in the embassy compound equipped with [cots] to anticipate evacuees beyond the shelters’ capacity. But their number does not appear to have exceeded capacity. We currently have four evacuees in the shelter.

Why was it necessary for the embassy to obtain assurances from local authorities on dormitory space for Indonesian students?

At the beginning of the lockdown, several students reported to the embassy that they had been asked to leave their dormitories to make way for quarantine patients. They were worried because they did not know where to go.

Thank God, after we wrote a letter, the Polish Ministry of Education notified us that all foreign students in Poland were guaranteed boarding.

What challenges has the worker outreach program encountered?

Some migrant workers recruited by small companies lost their jobs because their companies could not survive [the epidemic]. Usually, [foreign] workers are not covered by social security programs. The embassy has been trying to be selective in reviewing the companies interested in employing Indonesian workers.

We have been speaking about negative impacts, the economic slump, trade disruptions, forced repatriation. What positives does the situation hold?

[…] We are forced to stay home, [so we] reconnect with family, even ourselves. Now we are aware that we need to adopt a healthier lifestyle: eat healthy foods, take vitamins, exercise. We value friendship more, now that we can’t meet with our friends for even a cup of coffee.

We know that we took this world for granted. The little things that we neglected before COVID-19 are the things we miss the most, such as taking walks in the neighborhood without having to worry that we will catch COVID-19 from a passerby. […] Our lives are different now, but in a better and healthier universe.

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