Jakarta. Indonesia is craving for a closer engagement between ASEAN and Pacific nations, as the country leads the Southeast Asian bloc this year.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi expressed the group’s interest during a recent meeting with her Papua New Guinean counterpart Justin Tkatchenko in Jakarta. Retno told Tkatchenko of Indonesia’s commitment to making sure the Pacific region is part and parcel of a prosperous Indo-Pacific.

"As ASEAN Chair, Indonesia aims to promote closer engagement between ASEAN and the Pacific countries, including by encouraging a secretariat-to-secretariat cooperation, between ASEAN and Pacific Islands Forum [PIF]," Retno said in a joint press briefing.

Indonesia has been a dialogue partner to the PIF since 2001, meaning that the Southeast Asian country gets an invite to the annual meetings with the forum leaders. Other ASEAN member states that have forged a dialogue partnership with PIF are Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. Although the PIF has only admitted Singapore as its partner in 2021.

Under its ASEAN chairmanship, Indonesia aims to make the regional grouping remain relevant not only within Southeast Asia but also in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, among others through the Indo-Pacific Infrastructure Forum (IPIF). At the meeting with Tkatchenko, Retno asked for close neighbor Papua New Guinea’s attendance at the IPIF, which Jakarta will host this September.

“Indonesia invites the Pacific countries, of course including Papua New Guinea, to participate in the IPIF, as a platform to encourage concrete cooperation among countries in the Indo-Pacific,” Retno said.

“We share the same vision that the voice of the Pacific must be heard in addressing common global challenges, such as climate change, disaster management, and the blue economy. Indonesia is strongly committed to this cause and will continue to bridge the Pacific into the world,” she added.

Indonesia has chosen the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) as the third pillar of its chairmanship. Retno at the Southeast Asian group’s foreign ministerial retreat last month said that Indonesia planned on identifying a list of concrete projects for the AOIP, which would include all ASEAN partners. 

The AOIP aims to promote the Indo-Pacific as a region of dialogue and cooperation instead of rivalry. The document advocates cooperation in the maritime sector, connectivity, sustainable development goals, as well as the economic area and others.