Hennis Visits Indonesia

The cooperation between the armies of Indonesia and the Netherlands will be reinforced. This week minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis, will visit Indonesia to sign an agreement on further cooperation. Hennis visits Indonesia on invitation of her Indonesian colleague Purnomo Yusigiantoto. They will sign a agreement to intensify the dialogue between the Dutch and Indonesian forces and to tighten the relationship. Among others, cooperation on training and education will be common points of interest. During her trip she will speech at the Indonesian Defense University and will lay a wreath at the war cemetery where Dutch soldiers, KNIL soldiers and victims of the Japanese camps are commemorated. Minister Frans Timmermans of Foreign Affairs was the first member of the government who visited at the beginning of this year the former colony. His intention was to repair the ties between the two countries which was badly affected by a decision of the House, last year, to not sell older tanks to the Indonesian army. Timmermans was able to make an agreement of Comprehensive Partnership in which both countries showed their intention to intensify the relationships. One of the fields of cooperation in the Comprehensive Partnership was stability and security, the subject of the trip of Hennis this week. Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia. Last year the Netherlands was the most important export destination of Indonesia and within the European Union the second biggest trade partner. Prime Minister Mark Rutte will lead a trade mission to Indonesia next month. A 140 man strong delegation will join Rutte. Central theme will be the strengthening of political and economical ties. The last Prime Minister to visit Indonesia was jan Peter Balkenende in 2006. The VOC started trading with the islands of Indonesia in 1603 - wikipedia History The relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands goes back to 1603. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) started trading in the archipelago and until 1800 fought many battles to enlarge their influence. The rule over the Southeast Asian country came in 1826 officially in the hands of the Dutch government, after the VOC became bankrupt. In good Dutch tradition the government fought against the natives and until 1870 enforced a period of forced labor. Only in 1901 the Dutch started investing in education of the indigenous people and moved, slowly, toward political reforms. After a bitter armed and political struggle, the Dutch finally gave up Indonesia and had, by international pressure, to recognize the Indonesian independency. After the independence of Indonesia there were issues between the Netherlands and Indonesia which were fed by parts of the former colony which didn’t want to be part of the new country Indonesia. The most important cases are related to territories in the east of the country, New Guinea and the Moluccas. Since 2005 the Dutch government has tried to change the mode of the relationship and shows that the Netherlands wants to be a business partner as well as a strong partner in development cooperation.