Indonesian Ambassador to China Photo: Yin Yeping/GT

Cherishing the same mission of bringing people of the two countries closer, Djauhari Oratmangun comes to Beijing as the newly-appointed Indonesian Ambassador to China. In an interview with the Global Times (GT), the ambassador gives a thorough perspective of the bilateral ties and his beliefs on how to strengthen them in the years to come.

GT: The Indonesian government recently overturned the ban on Tik Tok after the video streaming service agreed to increase security controls. How do you see its growing popularity in Indonesia?

Oratmangun: This is quite popular among the vulnerable age group, but we have to protect our children as well. Sometimes it is misused by irresponsible persons, in particular teenagers, who post things on Tik Tok that we feel are inappropriate. That was the reason why my government had some discussions with Tik Tok concerning their content. Otherwise, the platform could be a bad influence on the younger generations. Tik Tok is already up and running in Indonesia again.

Indonesia is a huge market like China for this kind of mobile app. We are living in a digital era, so everything digital is quite popular among the younger generations in Indonesia. Both Tik Tok and WeChat are very popular. I am actually traveling to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province to visit Tencent's headquarters soon.

GT: In the first quarter of 2018, Chinese investment in Indonesia reached over $676 million, an increase of 12.7 percent compared to the same period last year. What is the reason behind this?

Oratmangun: I think it's because bilateral relations are reflected by how close our leaders are. The close relations between leaders and the people, are reflected in the willingness of Chinese investors who want to do business in Indonesia.

Also, because of the conducive investment climate of Indonesia, we have improved a lot of investment regulations, with some regulations being issued by the Indonesian government. Of course, it is quite conducive for investors, particularly from China, since the Chinese mainland with Hong Kong is now the number two investor for Indonesia after Singapore. We would like to see more Chinese investors invest in Indonesia. If Indonesia and China are strategic partners, it has to be reflected in the numbers as well, and one of the numbers is investment. The main investments from China are in infrastructure, mineral resources, digital innovative industries and energy.

GT: In what sectors does the Indonesian government wish to see more collaboration with China in the near future?

Oratmangun: Firstly, we would like to see more and more Chinese fall in love with Indonesian products. For example, we are tropical country, so there are a lot of exotic tropical fruits in Indonesia including Durian.

Secondly,our leaders realized that they need to provide their people with better infrastructure like you have here in China. So, maybe it is time for you to come to Indonesia and invest in the infrastructure sectors as well.

Thirdly, we would like to have more Chinese tourists come to Indonesia. Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 beautiful islands. Our weather is sunny almost year-round, we have beautiful seas and sand, we smile warmly and have welcoming hospitality services.

Last year, there were almost two million Chinese tourists in Indonesia. We would like the number of tourists to rise to three million by the end of the year. We believe that tourism will contribute quite substantially to our economy.

Fourthly, we would love to see more and more student exchanges between the two great countries.

GT: People-to-people connections are important for all countries. When it comes to China and Indonesia, what would be the challenges to tackle in order to bring the connection to a new level?

Oratmangun: Even if we are neighbors, we still have to face challenges. For example, if my guest comes to China and he parks his car in front of your house, you will get mad at me, right? The beauty is how we manage potential conflicts among neighbors. In particular, if you consider your neighbor as your friend, we have to be able to manage other things. So we should continue to have dialogue, cooperation and collaboration to face challenges.

For me, the relations between countries could be upside down. But if the people-to-people connection is strong, it will serve as a good foundation. We witnessed it as well when the relationship was at a very low level, but because of the people-to-people connections, relations were able to grow again.

I used to say to my friends to think about where we were 20 years ago and where we are now and evaluate the growth. So, think about 20 years from now. What will we be able to achieve in that time? Now with advanced technology, the speed of development will be quite fast. Five years ago, there was no Tik Tok. Now, look at the influence of social media and innovative technology in our daily lives. It will very much influence the relationship between countries as well.