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Indonesia to send more aid to Pacific nations in diplomatic push
The nation has pledged to provide pandemic and development assistance to the Solomon Islands and Fiji, as its charm offensive in the South Pacific continues amid tensions in its own easternmost provinces.
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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi attends a Joint Commission Meeting with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters virtually on July 29. (Twitter/@Menlu_RI)
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ndonesia has signed agreements with the governments of the Solomon Islands and Fiji to provide the nations with humanitarian assistance and help them respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged their tourism-reliant economies, already threatened by climate change.
The assistance is the latest in Indonesia’s ongoing diplomatic forays into the Pacific, which seek to paint the country as a benevolent neighbor with close cultural ties to the region, in the midst of simmering tensions in Papua that Pacific nations have previously voiced concern about.
The documents were signed on Wednesday and promised pandemic relief for the Solomon Islands and Fiji, as well as assistance to Fiji for the renovation of the Queen Victoria School, which was one of the hundreds of schools in the country that was damaged by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston in February 2016.
"The newly signed agreements reflect the strong partnership commitment between Indonesia and Pacific countries, including during the current crisis," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who witnessed the partially virtual signing of the agreements from Jakarta on Wednesday.
In addition to Fiji and the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste is also set to receive assistance from Indonesia. However, the signing of the agreement was rescheduled because of technical problems.
Retno said the grants, which would be taken from the Indonesia Aid endowment for humanitarian assistance, would be used to purchase medical devices produced by Indonesian firms.
Launched in December of last year, Indonesia Aid is an agency responsible for the reformation of the country’s international aid management, which used to be handled by a number of different institutions and lacked proper guidelines and unifying policies.
