With the granting of dual citizenship to Indonesian diaspora, the government could get some advantages, especially in the economic sector such as increasing foreign investment, Chief of Diaspora Desk in the Foreign Affairs Ministry Wahid Supriyadi saJakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia Diaspora will set up a task force in its Second Congress on August 18 - 20 to urge the government and the parliament to allow the diaspora to have dual nationality.
Chief of Diaspora Desk in the Foreign Affairs Ministry Wahid Supriyadi at the discussion at the ANTARA News Agency headquarters here on Wednesday said Indonesian diaspora really needed dual nationality to be able to contribute to national development.
He said with the granting of dual citizenship to Indonesian diaspora, the government could get some advantages, especially in the economic sector such as increasing foreign investment.
"Countries that provide dual nationality or other facilities for the diaspora have enjoyed lots of benefit" he said.
Supriyadi also known as a former Indonesian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates explained there are 31 countries in the world that provide dual nationality for their diaspora and benefited from overseas remittances.
Indonesia has an estimated 8-10 million diaspora around the world, but it can only generate about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars from remittances.
The figure is even smaller than that of Vietnam, which is the beginner in diaspora networking.
Vietnam has received about 10 billion U.S. dollars in remittances per year, Supriyadi said.
He further said Indonesia has to study efforts made by India and China in utilizing the diaspora.
"India provides an easy process for the passports of citizens of the country or known as PIO," he said.
By attaching PIO cards into their passports, the Indian diaspora can enjoy visa-free policy and easy economic transactions such as opening a bank account, buying property, and getting a variety of facilities and so they are interested in investing.
"Things like that have not been done by Indonesia," he said.
Wahid said the benefit of dual nationality in the second congress will be analyzed by the diaspora from various perspectives, involving parliament members, related officials from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the office of coordinating minister of political, legal and security affairs and other stakeholders .
The Indonesian Diaspora Second Congress will carry a theme of "Pulang Kampung" and held on August 18 to 20, 2013 at Jakarta Convention Center. The first congress was held in Los Angeles, USA in 2012.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
