Strong Ties, Great Chemistry

Singapore investors confident in RI’s future, says Ambassador Anil K. Nayar.

- Marella Putri

As the top investor, prime tourist destination country and advanced technology provider, Singapore is a strategic partner of Indonesia. In 2018, Singapore held the rotating chairmanship of the Southeast Asian nations’ organization, ASEAN, during which throughout the year it established several important initiatives such as the ASEAN Smart Cities Network to improve regional connectivity, and the ASEAN Single Window to facilitate regional exchange of customs and trade-related documents electronically.

In an interview with Forbes Indonesia, Anil K. Nayar, the Ambassador of Singapore to Indonesia, shares his views on how Singapore develops relations with Indonesia in wide-ranging fields and his country’s efforts to remain relevant in the Southeast Asian region amidst global uncertainty.

EXCERPTS:

Forbes Indonesia (FI): How would you describe RI-Singapore bilateral relations today?

Anil K. Nayar (ANK): Concisely, I would say the relationship is longstanding, strong, and forward-looking.

At the leaders’ level, there is very good chemistry and mutual understanding between President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Both met at the Leaders’ Retreat last October.

The relationship is also strong at the people-to-people level. In the field of tourism, for example, in 2017 we had about 3 million people from Indonesia visiting Singapore and 1.6 million the other way around.

The challenge amidst these positive relations would be to find new areas to enhance the relationship covering such areas as fintech and digital economy, smart cities, and people’s skills training.

FI: Did the recent Rupiah depreciation affect Singapore investors, the largest in Indonesia for some time now?