Developing countries share the same characteristics. Among other challenges, they have low per capita real income, high population growth rates, high rates of unemployment, dependence on primary sector of the economy and exports of primary commodities.
But even amid these problems, many struggle to lift their people from poverty into a decent level of lifestyle.
One developing country emerging as a success story is Indonesia, the world's largest island country and the 14th-largest country by land area at 1,904,569 square kilometres.
The capital, Jakarta, is the world's second-most populous urban area. But despite its large population at 270 million people and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity.
August 17 marks Indonesia’s 76th Independence Day, which has been held on the same date since 1945. The year is of great significance to the country as it marks the defeat of Japan, Indonesia’s former coloniser, by the US. Just like it happens in other parts of the world, Indonesians mark the day with pomp and colour across the country.
In solidarity with their Indonesian brothers and sisters, Kenyans will also join in the celebrations. The two states initiated bilateral relations in 1979.
Three years later in 1982, Indonesia opened its embassy in Nairobi but Kenya is yet to open its mission in Jakarta. Indonesia is covered by the Kenyan embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Opening an embassy in Jakarta is crucial to strengthening bilateral relations between Indonesia and Kenya. It would also place Kenya in a strategic position as Jakarta is the capital city of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and hosts the ASEAN Secretariat.
Indonesia and Kenya also enjoy good trade relations. The value of Indonesia’s exports to Kenya grew from about $2.6 billion to an estimated $3.8 billion between 2019 and 2020, while the value of Kenya’s exports to Indonesia over the same period rose from $25.2 million to $26.7 million.
Indonesia’s top three exports to Kenya are palm oil, paper, float glass and surface ground or polished glass. Kenya exports tea, coffee and, bovine raw hides and skins. Significantly, Indonesia is currently the biggest supplier of crude palm oil to Kenya at 72 per cent.
To enhance the trade relations, both governments need to create an enabling environment and provide incentives for business people from both countries. One of the ways would be by creating a preferential tariff agreement and reduce trade barriers.
In the education sector, there is a lot of potential for growth between the two partners. Having an advanced education system, Kenyans should start taking advantage of the scholarship opportunities offered by the Indonesian government and the country’s universities.
The main scholarships offered through the embassy include Darmasiswa, which is a scholarship programme offered to all foreign countries which have diplomatic relationship with Indonesia to study Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia). Second is the KNB Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship programme offered by the Indonesia government to selected applicants from developing countries.
In 2018 and 2019, the Indonesian embassy provided 18 and nine letters of recommendation, respectively, under both programmes to Kenyan applicants. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the Indonesia government cancelled all scholarships programmes for 2020. This year, the embassy has provided 14 letters of recommendation for Kenyans to study in the Southeast country.
Diplomatically and politically, both countries enjoy cordial relations and respect each other’s territorial integrity. Kenya’s then CS for Foreign Affairs Monica Juma visted Bali in December 2019, as a one of the speakers in the Bali Democracy Forum. During the visit, she also met with her counterpart, Retno Marsudi.
The same year, Africa Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development Raila Odinga also visited Bali to attend the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue. As one of the main speakers, he had a chance to meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The Indonesian embassy in Nairobi is also active under Ambassador Dr M Hery Saripudin. For instance, on July 2, he undertook a four-day visit to Lamu county during which he explored ways of cooperation between Indonesia and the newly launched Lamu Port.
Although Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, the story of the devotion of the Indonesian clerics to the service of the poor in Kenya goes back for decades.
The writer is the executive director of South-South Dialogues, a Nairobi based research and development communication think tank
