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</ref> Both countries are members of ]. Indonesia and New Zealand officially established diplomatic relations in 1950. New Zealand has an embassy in ] and Indonesia has an embassy in ].
</ref> Both countries are members of ]. Indonesia and New Zealand officially established diplomatic relations in 1950. New Zealand has an embassy in ] and Indonesia has an embassy in ].
== History ==
New Zealand supported Indonesian aspirations for independence during the ] in the late 1940s. In 1947, New Zealand voted in favour of Indonesian membership in United Nations bodies and in 1948 and 1949 New Zealand strongly criticised Dutch “]” and actively supported Indonesian independence. New Zealand immediately recognised the Republic of Indonesia when sovereignty was transferred to the Indonesian government in December 1949. The New Zealand Minister of External Affairs visited Jakarta in January 1950, meeting President ] and launching bilateral relations on a highly positive note. New Zealand first opened a development assistance office in Jakarta in 1957, supporting the Colombo Plan, and the first Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand, Dr A Yaya Helmi, presented his credentials in Wellington in 1958.
New Zealand upgraded its representation in Jakarta to an Embassy in 1968 with the appointment of Bill Challis as New Zealand’s first Ambassador to Indonesia. New Zealand had previously been represented by the Colombo Plan office (from 1957), a Consulate General, 1961-1963, and a Legation, 1963-1968. Today, the main mechanism for New Zealand’s engagement with Indonesia exists in the annual Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) led by Foreign Ministers. The last JMC took place in Auckland on 9 September 2011.
Indonesia–New Zealand relations are foreign bilateral relations between Indonesia and New Zealand. Having common interests as democracies and neighbours in the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand and Indonesia are viewed as natural partners. Both countries are members of APEC. Indonesia and New Zealand officially established diplomatic relations in 1950. New Zealand has an embassy in Jakarta and Indonesia has an embassy in Wellington.
Economy and trade
Indonesia’s commodity exports consist mainly of energy products and minerals as well as lumber and agriculture. These items share virtually no overlap with New Zealand’s temperate-climate agricultural and forestry export products, making the two nations a natural fit for trade in terms of comparative advantage. Trade has been made even easier by the ASEAN Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which came into force for New Zealand in December 2009 and at the start of this 2012 for Indonesia. The deal will eliminate tariffs on all imported goods by 2020. Traditionally Indonesia viewed New Zealand as the source of meat and dairy products, such as beef, milk, and cheese, a role that also shared with Australia.
In 2012, New Zealand’s exports to Indonesia reached NZ$856 million, while Indonesia’s exports to New Zealand was at NZ$724 million. Total two-way trade for 12 months to June 2012 was NZ$1.58 billion. Indonesia was New Zealand’s 13th largest trading partner for goods trade.
Culture and education
New Zealand has placed a new emphasis on education in its bilateral ties with Indonesia by expanding cooperations between universities, offering more scholarships and holding education fairs. The number of Indonesian students in the island nation is now 800 out of 100,000 international students.
Foreign relations of Indonesia
Foreign relations of New Zealand