In the week of 7 July the Dutch Director General for Political Affairs Mr. Thijs van der Plas visited Jakarta. It was the first official incoming visit from The Netherlands in a long time. The political department and the economical department worked together in setting up the program on behalf of the Embassy.
As an embassy, we think it was very nice to finally receive visitors again, although the current COVID-19 situation required of course some precautions, adjustments and extra preparations. Besides, the question always is, will the planned meetings actually take place? It can take up to the last moment to receive a final confirmation or even a cancellation, depending on urgent or more important issues that could suddenly occur in the agenda of the interlocutor.
But luckily, we can all look back on a good visit. The Director General for Political Affairs spoke with several Indonesian officials and also met with ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Mr. Tran Duc Binh at the ASEAN Secretariat. For the Netherlands and the EU, both Indonesia and ASEAN as a whole, are important partners within the Indo-Pacific region and we look forward to extend our collaboration in that respect.
