"Relations between Japan and Indonesia are increasingly being strengthened," deputy director of the Second Southeast Asia Division of the Department of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kaneko Kazuya, said here on Saturday.
The desire to strengthen bilateral relations was evident from the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Indonesia, he added. Indonesian President Joko Widodo also visited Japan.
The visits reflect a joint effort to further strengthen relations between Indonesia and Japan, he said.
"So what has been implemented is to create closer ties between Indonesia and Japan," he added.
Japan views Indonesia as an important partner with great potential and feels that the bilateral relationship between the two still needs to be developed further through closer cooperation.
"Indonesia is important to Japan because Indonesia is one of the most dominant countries among the G20 member countries," he said.
Indonesia also has a very strategic geographical position because it is located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, which are vital shipping lanes for Japan.
Then, Indonesia has vast energy material resources, which have the potential to be developed further.
Kaneko cited a survey conducted in the United Kingdom, which found that Indonesia will be the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2050.
He also shared a graph showing that one of the factors that can guarantee Indonesia's future progress is the population strength of its younger generation, which is currently more dominant.
This is different from Japan, which currently has a larger elderly population.
Furthermore, he described Indonesia as the most dynamic democratic country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
"This is different from Middle Eastern countries, which have difficulty realizing people's sovereignty even though they are dominated by Muslim countries," said Kaneko.
With so much potential and progress achieved by Indonesia, Japan believes that relations between the two countries need to be strengthened and made closer
To achieve this, Japan is seeking several things, including further fostering bilateral relations and strengthening cooperation in the field of maritime security or security.
"So, Japan will try to improve relations," he said.
In addition, Japan will also seek strategies to increase economic cooperation, given that Indonesia is a middle-income country.
Furthermore, it will try to improve the interaction between the people of the two countries in order to foster mutual understanding among them.
The next step will be to cooperate more closely to jointly address various regional issues and challenges.
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Reporter: Katriana
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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