Prabowo government's strategies for fencing the Indonesian ocean - Academia

had the pleasure and honor of meeting then Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on one of the last days of her term. During the meeting, she reminded us of Indonesia’s journey and the challenges in establishing maritime boundaries with its neighbors.

Indonesia has so far established all or part of its maritime boundaries with eight of its ten neighboring countries. For two of these, East Timor and Palau, maritime boundaries have yet to be determined.

Three maritime border agreements were signed during Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s presidency from 2014-2024. One with Vietnam in 2022 and two others with Malaysia (2023).

It is not easy to assess whether the three agreements could justify the success of maritime diplomacy during the Jokowi administration. Negotiations over maritime boundaries are certainly not easy. For example, the 2023 Indonesia-Vietnam agreement lasted 25 to 30 years. The 2023 agreements with Malaysia were both new, following the first one signed in 1969.

The Jokowi government’s achievements in this regard were similar to those of his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who managed to conclude three maritime border agreements with the western segment of Singapore (2009), the Philippines (2014) and the eastern segment of Singapore (2014).

In total, Indonesia has 21 maritime boundary agreements with eight neighboring countries. Although Indonesia can be considered one of the most prolific countries in terms of maritime border agreements, many segments remain uncertain. Pushing those boundaries will be the homework of the new leaders.

Newly installed President Prabowo Subianto has appointed Sugiono, a young politician from the Gerindra party, as the new foreign minister. It is intriguing to see a politician now serving as foreign minister, as Indonesia has always had a career diplomat in this position for the past two decades.

Every Thursday

for signing up for our newsletter!