EDITOR’S note:

As the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) opens today, Shanghai Daily will publish articles that highlight CICA’s role as a multilateral mechanism to foster regional cooperation. This is an interview, in which Shanghai Daily reporter Ni Tao spoke to Indonesia’s ambassador to China, H.E. Soegeng Rahardjo, an observer at the summit.

Q: What are your expectations of the CICA summit in Shanghai?

A: Indonesia has been a CICA observer since 2002. Although Indonesia is not a full member, (as an observer) we firmly believe in the importance of CICA as a multilateral mechanism in Asia, which plays an important role in at least four areas.

Firstly, political trust among its member states; secondly, peaceful resolution of disputes; thirdly, enhancing exchange among civilizations; and fourthly, promoting common prosperity and development.

This year, Indonesia welcomes the expansion of CICA’s focus from political and security cooperation to economic development as well as social, cultural cooperation. This is a timely effort. Indonesia hopes that CICA can foster and put into practice new concepts of security cooperation, development and civilization, featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, coordination, and respect for diverse civilizations.

Q: Is Indonesia interested in full membership?

A: CICA is almost the same as ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), where Indonesia is a member state. With ASEAN, China is our dialogue partner. CICA is more about Asia as a whole, while Indonesia will focus on ASEAN as a sub-regional grouping. Whatever it is, full member or observer, we have the same responsibility to maintain peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Q: What role do you expect China to play as the new CICA host?

A: Indonesia welcomes the chairmanship of China both inside CICA and in APEC. Indonesia hopes that the double chairmanships will lead to a convergence of efforts and synergy of ideas, which would further strengthen Asia’s role as the future hub and engine for global cooperation.

And we continue to witness China’s increasing role in the global economy and international affairs. Its economic growth and peaceful rise have generated significant opportunities for economic and social development of the region.

Q: Do you think there is an “Asian spirit” that brings Asians together? Does CICA embody that spirit?

A: Yes I do believe there is an Asian spirit or Asian sentiment that unites the countries. For instance, as our experience shows, we are fortunate to be spared the financial and economic crisis that continues to pose difficulty to other parts of the world, especially Europe and America. We are also fortunate that in spite of these challenges, our region has shown positive economic growth as a whole.

This kind of trend has allowed regional governments to press ahead with their economic development plans, and this alone is a strong uniting force among the ASEAN countries. This is what I think the Asian spirit is: to unite during a difficult time. If we look very carefully, the 21st century is the Asia-Pacific century.

Q: China is planning to revive the ancient Silk Road and construct a Maritime Silk Road. What is your view of the prospects?

A: The Maritime Silk Road initiative was launched by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Indonesia in October.

President Xi gave a speech in front of our parliament, the first time a foreign head of state did so.

China and Indonesia have a relationship since a long time ago, especially when Admiral Zheng He visited Indonesia in the 15th century. That is how the idea of the Maritime Silk Road originated in ancient times. Today, this idea is related to five links.

The first link is policy. How should all the countries in the region discuss policies on economic development?

The second link is connectivity. There is a saying in China, “if you want to get rich, start by building roads.” This is the philosophical idea behind the Silk Road or Maritime Silk Road. It means that logistics are important.

The third link is trade.

The fourth link is currency. In Asia, there are at least three financial hubs, one is Hong Kong, another Singapore, and the other is Shanghai. Currency is important for providing funds for investment in Asia.

The fifth link is mutual trust. To maintain peace and security, our monetary budget can be used to eliminate poverty and increase prosperity.

Q: Can you comment on the relations between Indonesia and China in terms of business and culture?

A: Bilateral relations between Indonesia and China have boomed. It is reflected by President Xi Jinping’s visit to Indonesia last October.

President Xi Jinping and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed to elevate our bilateral ties from strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership.

In terms of trade, China is now the largest trading partner for Indonesia while Indonesia is one of the biggest trading partners for China.

If you look at the two-way volume of trade — from around US$26 billion in 2009 to US$68 billion in 2013 — it has more than doubled. And the two countries agreed that in 2015, our bilateral trade should reach around US$80 billion.

In terms of investment, Chinese investments in Indonesia reached US$2.1 billion in 2012.

Tourism is increasing every year. I wish in three years the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia can reach around 3 million a year.

Nowadays, all the tourists visit only Bali. Bali is one of our 17,000 islands. There are so many beautiful places like Bali.

Q: As its economy grows, Indonesia’s interests sometimes overlap China’s, especially in pushing for reforms of global institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Does that mean more room for cooperation with China on global governance?

A: It’s a timely question.

As I mentioned earlier, our roles should be more important in the IMF and World Bank. In recent years, the emerging economies had larger quota shares in the IMF and World Bank.

It’s normal for all the emerging countries to cooperate with each other, in order to have our voices heard more clearly by developed countries. In G20, Indonesia and China can take advantage of their positions and bridge the interests of developing countries and developed countries, especially on economic and financial issues.