President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has chosen Indonesia as the first country he would visit during his administration. Topping the list of concrete outcomes from the visit is the signing of a Plan of Action between the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which will lay out a comprehensive action and road map for bilateral relations over the next five years.
Indonesia is a long-standing ally of the Philippines. Both countries were among the original signatories to the agreement that launched the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1966. Together with Brunei and Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have established, too, the BIMP-EAGA, an alliance that promotes the concept of an East Asian Growth Area in the region.
The Philippines is Indonesia's most important trading partner with a total bilateral trade value of $9.8 billion in 2021, consisting of $8.6 billion in exports and an import value of $1.2 billion. Hence, Indonesia's trade balance surplus is US$7.3 billion. The surplus in Indonesia’s favor has occurred for more than five years. Indonesia’s main exports to the Philippines are coal briquettes for industrial manufacturing, cars, and motorcycles. Philippine exports to Indonesia are refined copper, integrated circuits, and office machine parts.
The second deliverable is the renewal of the 1997 Agreement on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defense and Security (DSCA) between the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) and the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia, which will serve as mother framework for all defense and security cooperation. Both countries are committed to the forging of a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea by ASEAN, and on rules-based settlement of disputes in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
With Indonesia being the next chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), there will clearly be discussions on key regional issues of mutual interest across diplomatic, economic and socio-cultural dimensions. Indonesia is also hosting the G20 summit of the biggest economies in the world in November, representing the Southeast Asian region.
The third deliverable is the Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation between the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, which will promote people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding through cultural activities of the two countries. Indonesia and the Philippines have ethnic populations and national languages that have common Austronesian ancestry. The historical links between ancient Indonesia and the Philippines originated around the 9th century.
President Marcos’ first activity upon his arrival on Sept. 5 is to meet with the Filipino community. Filipino professionals and managers are highly regarded in Indonesia as they have been active participants in enhancing the quality of corporate governance and spurring the contributions of the private sector to the country’s economic progress.
President Marcos and President Joko Widodo shall affirm the two countries’ steadfast friendship for more than seven decades — and carve new forward pathways for strengthening the deep ties that bind the two neighboring countries.