At a Special GRIPS Forum on February 1, 2018, His Excellency Dr. Rizal Ramli, former Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, gave a lecture titled, “Changing Geo Political Dynamics: Indonesia and Japan.”

Abstract

The existing global order, and especially the circumstances in East Asia, are facing changes due to the new aggressive approach to diplomacy being taken by the USA’s President Trump as well as the rapid political, economic, and military rise of China. Against this backdrop, Japan and Indonesia – countries that have historically maintained a firm friendship – now find themselves facing the challenge of dealing with new circumstances.

This talk examined the issues that both countries must face henceforth, and considered the path they should take going forward.

The Forum was followed by a Special Seminar, held on February 2 in a GRIPS meeting room. The invitees included Japanese deeply involved with Indonesia, and GRIPS students from Indonesia. Following a message of appreciation by GRIPS Vice President Sonobe, Dr. Rizal gave a speech on the circumstances surrounding Indonesia-Japan relations, and the future challenges that the two countries will need to address. The participants benefited greatly from Dr. Rizal’s wise and informative talk.

Speakers’ Profile:

2000 　 ECONIT Advisory Group

2000.3 ～ 2001.2　Chairman of Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog)

2000.8 ～ 2001.6　Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs

2001.6 ～ 2001.8　Minister of Finance

2007　 President of PT. Semen Gresik

2015　 Auditor of PT. Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)

2015.8 ～ 2016.7　Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs

Education
1973　Institute of Technology, Bandung (ITB)
1980　Master degree at Boston University
1990　Ph.D. degree at Boston University (Economics)