Ambassador launches Indonesia Digital Diplomacy
The Indonesian Embassy in Kuwait organized a seminar, and launched a tourism campaign, at the Mövenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a in Salmiya on 18 November. Indonesian Ambassador H.E. Tri Tharyat along with the Director General for Information and Public Diplomacy at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Cecep Herawan, opened the Integrated Technical Guidance seminar.
The two-day interactive event saw the participation of representatives from 23 Indonesian Embassies and Consulate Generals in the Middle East and Africa region. The seminar allowed the 46 Indonesian diplomatic personnel to learn more about public diplomacy and strategic issues, as well as share professional experiences.
On the sidelines of the function, Ambassador Tharyat also launched a new outdoor media campaign to raise awareness of Indonesia as a tourism destination and to encourage more tourist exchanges between Indonesia and Kuwait.
Speaking about the seminar, Ambassador Tharyat underscored the development of digital diplomacy as a very important undertaking for the MoFA in Jakarta. He noted that a paradigm shift in diplomacy was needed to contend with the borderless and fast-moving world of the internet and social media. Pointing out that embassies today have to move away from old bureaucratic mechanisms, he stressed that they have to adopt new approaches and equip their staff with the knowledge and tools pertaining to the digital medium.
With regard to the new outdoor media campaign, Ambassador Tharyat explained, “In the last three years we have only received 21,000 Kuwaiti visitors, that number is quite low when compared to other Southeast Asian countries.” He expressed hope that the media campaign would successfully result in an increase in the number of Kuwaiti visitors and pointed out that Indonesia has a visa-free policy for citizens of 169 countries for a stay of up to 30 days.
Elaborating on Kuwaiti-Indonesian bilateral relationship, Ambassador Tharyat lauded the excellent political cooperation between the two countries as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, and in supporting each other on different issues of common concern, such as the Palestinian issue and the peace and security in the Arab region.
In a similar vein, Director General Herawan stated, “We enjoy an excellent bilateral relationship with Kuwait, especially in the political sphere but we are aiming to strengthen our cooperation in other fields as well such as in our economic relations.”
