Building Indonesian relations for the better

Vietnam and Indonesia have been boosting their comprehensive strategic partnership. Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Adam M. Tugio writes about the cooperation outlook and his perception about Vietnam's development journey over the past decades.

- Adam M. Tugio

As Vietnam approaches Reunification Day on April 30, the country pauses to remember a defining moment in its modern history that asserted national unity and set the stage for the long work of rebuilding and development. It is also an especially fitting time to reflect on another turning point: nearly four decades of doi moi, the economic renewal launched in 1986.

Reunification and renovation are two milestones that help to explain why Vietnam’s rise has been so steady, and why its partnership with Indonesia has become both more natural and more strategic.

Over the past 40 years, the stories of Vietnam and Indonesia have begun to echo each other in striking ways. Both countries have gone through disruption, reform, and reinvention. Both have learned, sometimes the hard way, that practical economic policy and regional openness can lift living standards. And today, as Vietnam looks ahead from past achievements and Indonesia advances towards its own 2045 vision, our two nations find that our interests and ambitions increasingly line up.

This convergence did not happen by accident. It grew from deliberate choices, shared commitments inside ASEAN, and a simple realisation: cooperation does not weaken national strength, instead it amplifies it. When Vietnam launched those economic reforms in the 1980s, it began reshaping its economic model: giving markets a larger role, encouraging private enterprise, attracting foreign investment, and connecting more confidently with regional and global trade. The goals were practical and urgent: stabilise the economy, modernise production, create jobs, and improve daily life for a young and fast-growing population.