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For a prospective Indian tourist researching Australia, there is much interesting and surprising information online. It is the “world’s smallest continent and largest island.” According to the World Bank 2020 Report, Australia has a population of 26 million. This is a little higher than the population of India’s capital, New Delhi. “Australia is a land of dreams. From the sacred legends of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, when the great spirits conjured the coral reefs, rainforests, and red deserts, to armchair travelers who describe Australia as their dream destination, the Land Down Under deserves all the hype” (planetware.com).
Tourism is a key source of economic income for Australia, bringing considerable foreign exchange to the treasury. Tourism contributes “$34 billion – that is 2.6% of Australia’s GDP” and “provides around half a million jobs” to her citizens (tourism.australia.com). It must be noted that the Covid-19 worldwide lockdown hit the Australian tourism industry hard, causing a loss of almost $7 billion and its implications are therefore serious for the job market.
“Tourism is a strategically important sector, for India and Australia” (aes2020.in). However, to attract Indian tourists, the Australian department of Tourism must undertake great initiatives. In this article, the author will focus upon the importance of Indian tourists to Australia and upon how Canberra can attract more Indians.
Every year Indian visitors to Australia have been increasing. It is expected that in 2035 Indian tourists to Australia will “grow four-fold, from 300,000 in 2017 to nearly 1.2 million, worth around $9 billion each year to the Australian economy” (dfat.gov.au). Yet, to achieve this, both Australia and India should work more closely in the department of Tourism. More of the private players in the industry should contribute to bring about this transformation. The Australian government must meet all the necessary requirements to achieve this ambitious target.
It is understandable that the rich, the upper middleclass of society and business people always value tourism. Still, if the Australian government only targets this customer market in India, its tourism sector will not take off to the next level. To grow, Australia should concentrate on the growing middle class in India. The youth of this class are very ambitious. Attracting them will not be an easy. It shall require meticulous action and strategy. The ambitious middleclass have increasingly sought to better the quality of their children’s education, to better their health care, to obtain better jobs and better training programmes. The business of this class is moving towards India’s metropolitan cities, causing its emerging cities to increase in size. The Covid-19 pandemic halted this phenomenon; however, it is expected that it will resume once the world emerges from the pandemic. The ‘new normal’ will occur once vaccination reaches everyone globally and the world economy revives and prospers. It is good that the policies of the world governments are sailing in this direction.
Jeba, an international tour operator at Trivandram, said, “Australia can attract Indian middleclass society as tourists. However, first, they should operate more direct flights from South India’s cities to Western Australia’s major city Perth. This policy approach will reduce the travel duration to just 7-8 hours from Chennai to Perth. Moreover, increasing the direct flights to Perth from South Indian major cities not only lowers the ticket price; it will attract more travel agents like me to reach out to common people including schools and colleges. Second, the European model of cheap flights connecting their cities is a good strategy that can be adopted in Australia.”
Jeba’s point suggests that many of India’s middleclass believe that travelling to Australia is too expensive and that connecting the Australian cities would likewise be too costly. A right articulation of policy between India and Australia can break this mentality in India. The Australian policy makers should be involved in this process to correct the issue.
The tour operators are the bridge between the two countries facilitating an improvement in mutual international travel and tourism. These agents are doing all the required paperwork to obtain visas for tourists, arranging hotels according to their purpose, such as for medical and educational reasons, for school and college students. Hence, the Australian Tourism department should organize annual meetings and conferences, provide inviting incentives, to encourage tour operators and resolve the challenges and difficulties they encounter.
Medical tourism can attract more tourists from India if Australia realized its potential and significance. Healthcare is one of Australia’s areas of expertise, for which it is globally recognized. This sector can bring more Indians to Australia, even though India can provide cheaper treatment. Those Indians who visit the U.S. for medical treatment shall only be diverted to Australia if both countries increase their direct travel connections.
A related point can be found in the sport of cricket. Young cricketers often travel to the UK to play for its clubs. These young Indians look towards the West in such a manner because it possesses an image of prosperity. Australia must build a similar image in India; the Indian youth must feel that Australia can benefit them. For instance, for promotional purposes, Australia’s local cricket clubs could accommodate India’s youth. Moreover, the MRF Foundation can also be utilized for better promotion. Australia could particularly market its cricket pitches, given that these are famous for fast bowling.
Higher education is another growth area. There are already over 37,000 Indian students in Australian universities. This will increase annually according to the employment opportunities in Australia. Once they settle down with a job, they shall likely invite their families to visit Australia, benefitting the economy.
Three decades ago, Australia had an image of racism amongst many Indian students as they considered choosing Australia for higher education. Now, this has changed dramatically. A Computer teacher, Ranjit Alyousis, an Indian-Australian, shared with the author that a decade ago, all these issues were due to the strict policies of the Government. Now that there is more tolerance, increasing multiculturalism has been recognized as a growing part of Australia. These changes in Australia should be utilized.
Thus, Australia and India should celebrate the year ahead by focusing on promoting Tourism. If so, they should simplify mutual international travel. The visa process should be simplified. Australia ought to provide Indian travellers with a one-month ‘Visa on Arrival.’ This will encourage even a simple, middleclass Indian family with the hope that they can visit Australia in their lifetime. If not, Australia shall regret, even for the next decade, that they have missed the Indian tourist bus once again. In my experience, most of my friends would still prefer to visit Europe or America, even though America is much farther than Australia. Hence, this article has shown the importance of Indian tourism to Australia and it has articulated several concrete steps that Australia can take to this end. Australia must attempt to remove the barriers which hinder Indians from visiting Australia.
Spreading the Indonesian Identity through “Kopi Gayo” Diplomacy : Challenges and Opportunities
Antony Clement is a Senior Editor (Indo-Pacific), Modern Diplomacy, an online journal. He is a researcher in Indian Foreign Policy. He is currently working on two books – “The Best Teacher” and “Diplomacy in Tough Times”. His research centres on India’s diplomacy & foreign policy and extends to domestic politics, economic policy, security issues, and international security matters, including India’s relations with the US, the BRICS nations, the EU and Australia. His recent book is “Discover your talents.”
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Authors : Nani Septianie & Ramadhan Dwi Saputra*
Indonesia is a country that has richness in agricultural products, where the large Indonesian agricultural production is due to climatic factors and fertile soil that can produce diverse agricultural products. Indonesia’s fertile soil is due to geological factors, especially volcanic soil formed from lava and ash which has good content for the fertility of agricultural products (Welianto, 2020). One of Indonesia’s current agricultural products that have become the daily consumption of people in the world is coffee. Based on data from Indonesia Investments, it explains that Indonesia is the 4th country that is the largest coffee producer and exporter in the world in 2016-2017 with a production output of 11,491,000 Tons and an exporter output of 6,891,000 Tons (Indonesia Investment, 2017). And in 2020, Indonesia will produce 735.9 thousand Metric Tons of coffee (Statista Research Department. 2021). With the huge production of Indonesian coffee, Indonesia produces coffee production from various regions in Indonesia with different characteristics and advantages. The superior coffee variants in Indonesia include Gayo Coffee, Kintamani Coffee, Luwak Coffee, Java Coffe, Sidikalang Coffee, and Toraja Coffe (Nurhanisah, n.d.).
Based on data from the Central Statistic Agency of Indonesia (BPS), period January to August 2021, the value of coffee exports reached US$476.76 million. In the same period, Aceh is Indonesia’s 4th largest coffee-exporting province with an export value of US$49.89 million (Timorria, 2021). On 24 October 2021, the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Villages together with PT Astra International Tbk released Aceh Gayo Arabica coffee exports to the UK with amount of Rp1.4 billion which was managed by Darul Mujahadah Al Waliyyah Islamic Boarding School, PT Merador Kopi Berjaya, and Gayo Cooperative (Zulfikar, 2021). The government said that the development of the export release cooperation is expected to make the coffee from Indonesia known by International society. The UK is one of the 9th Indonesian coffee export destinations with an export value of US$15 million (Timorria, 2021). Gayo Coffee is an Arabica coffee variety that is one of the leading commodities that has been known in the world. Gayo Coffee comes from the Gayo Highland, Central Aceh, Indonesia. Gayo Coffee has a high taste with a delicious and distinctive aroma, lower acidity, and has strong bitterness. The Gayo Coffee export activity to the UK shows that international cooperation in the agricultural sector continues even in the Covid-19 Pandemic situation for supplying the coffee and Indonesia can strengthen its country’s identity through the export of Gayo Coffee which is one of Indonesia’s specialty coffees which is a source of Indonesia’s power by Introducing of Indonesian Coffee to international society, especially Introducing the advantages of coffee to partner countries. The Public Diplomacy activities through Kopi Gayo can be an attractive tool for Indonesia in introducing Nation Branding and realizing Indonesia’s good image in the international community. Public Diplomacy activities, especially the activities carried out by non-state actors, can continue to be a long term strategy to maintain Indonesian identity and characteristics to the International community so that Indonesian identity can be known by the international community, especially through Public Diplomacy activities through the export of Gayo Coffee with different taste of the coffee.
Indonesia Must Be Expand the Opportunities to Introduce Indonesian Coffee to International Society
To strengthen Indonesia’s identity to be known by the international community, Indonesia is needed to expand its reach to other partner countries of Indonesia. By expanding Indonesian Coffee to other partner countries, it can be Indonesia’s strategy in introducing Indonesian coffee. Based on data from the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics on July 21, 2021, the destination countries for Indonesian coffee exports include Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, The United States of America, England, Germany, Italy, Romania, Georgia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, and France (Central Statistics Agency, 2021). The data shows that there are still many other partner countries that have not been involved in promoting Indonesian coffee especially in the Asian region, which is still lack involved and several European Union member countries are also required to be included as Indonesia Coffee export destinations. In addition, to strengthen Indonesian identity especially through the export of Indonesian coffee, contributions from Indonesian institutes abroad can also play an important role in strengthening Indonesian identity abroad. The institutes can be special institutes that introduce Indonesian characteristics that are more focused on promoting the socio-cultural values of each country. Not only establishing embassies in every country, but each country is required to establish special institutes that can be used as a strategy to strengthen the country’s identity by introducing the advantages possessed by countries that can interact with the international community directly.
In addition, to strengthen Indonesia’s identity through introducing coffee to the international community, Indonesia must also pay attention to the Logo or Brand which indicates the characteristics of the type of coffee being exported, so that the international society in various countries know that it is an Indonesian product. With the branding of products exported to various countries, Indonesia has a superior value that can be used as pride for Indonesia because it has succeeded in introducing the results of its natural wealth to the countries in the world. The branding of a product is very influential for the exporting country, in order to expand the taste of Indonesian Gayo Coffee abroad as well as to increase added value for Indonesian coffee exports.
Therefore, to strengthen the identity of a country, especially Indonesia, utilizing all the advantages of natural products owned by a country can be an important strategy in improving the characteristics and introducing the advantages possessed by each country. In addition, not only Indonesia, but other countries are also needed to explore and increase the superior productions of each country. And Indonesia also needs to introduce other natural wealth products to the international community besides coffee, because Indonesia is one of the countries that is rich in natural wealth. For this reason, the advantages of natural resources owned by each country greatly contribute to maximizing the introduction of the characteristics possessed by each country and the identity of a country can be recognized by some individuals in the world.
*Ramadhan Dwi Saputra, Chemical Engineering Research Assistant at Universitas Islam Indonesia).
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An Indonesian promise to work with the United Arab Emirates to promote ‘moderate’ Islam raises questions of what constitutes moderation and how it can best be achieved.
The pledge, made by Indonesian President Joko Widodo during a three-day visit to the UAE to solicit Emirati investment in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority state, potentially puts on the spot a government coalition partner and the government’s foremost ally in projecting Indonesia as an icon of moderate Islam.
It also raises the question of whether Mr. Widodo will compromise Indonesia’s unique advantage in its rivalry with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Iran over who will define moderate Islam in the 21st century in exchange for funding and investment.
Indonesia and the UAE signed US$23 billion worth of agreements during a visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed to the Southeast Asian island state in 2019. The agreements included a $270-million liquefied petroleum gas project and a $3-billion long-term deal on naphtha supply.
More recently, the UAE said in March that it would invest US$10 billion in Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund. Last month, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority said it would commit $400 million to GoTo Group, Indonesia’s biggest internet firm, in advance of its initial public offering.
Dubai’s port management and logistic giant DP World last week signed an agreement with the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) to explore investment in port infrastructure in Indonesia.
Mr. Jokowi hopes that Prince Mohammed’s agreement to chair a committee that will oversee the construction of a new Indonesian capital at an estimated cost of $34 billion will translate into Emirati co-funding,
The two countries have also explored closer defence cooperation with the exchange of defence attaches, discussion of potential cooperation on the manufacturing of drones, weapons, and munitions, and collaboration in aerospace and cross-training in counterterrorism operations, and possible Indonesian support for Emirati security engagement in Africa’s Sahel region.
“Our relationship with the UAE is not just like friends; we are like brothers,” Mr. Jokowi told the state-controlled Emirates News Agency. “I see that religious moderation and diversity in the UAE are widely respected. And that is the area of cooperation we would like to explore more because we both share the closeness in the vision and characters of moderate Islam that propagates tolerance.”
Mr. Jokowi’s eagerness to work with the UAE on religious issues raises questions about the relationship between Mr. Jokowi’s quest for religious soft power and his search for foreign investment.
Ameem Lutfi, a researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, cautions that Gulf state investment involves “risks that…may be tied to political leverage.”
Mr. Lutfi notes that countries like the UAE seek to expand their influence in Muslim majority countries in Asia to bolster their bids for leadership of the Muslim world. In Indonesia, the UAE encounters one of its foremost, albeit understated, religious soft power rivals that has demonstrated its wherewithal in the absence of comparable financial muscle.
Mr. Jokowi’s visit came months after ground was broken in Solo in Central Java of a US$20 million replica of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Mosque, named after the founder of the UAE. The project was unusual given that until now it was the Saudis who built grand mosques celebrating their rulers in world capitals such as Brussels and Islamabad.
Mr. Jokowi did not spell out what religious cooperation would entail but Indonesian news reports at the time of Prince Mohammed’s visit suggested it would involve sharing expertise in Quran memorization, translation and publication; promoting discussions among scholars, politicians and academics on ways to strengthen religious moderation and cooperating on the development of digital education programs for madrassas or religious seminaries.
Mr. Jokowi’s eagerness to cooperate with the UAE on religious issues is remarkable given that his government has effectively outsourced Indonesia’s religious soft power efforts to Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim civil society movement. It takes on added significance with this year’s Indonesian chairmanship of the G-20 that groups the world’s foremost economies. The G-20 includes an inter-faith tack.
Nahdlatul Ulama is represented in Mr. Jokowi’s government by its political party, National Awakening Party (PKB). In addition, Mr. Jokowi’s vice president, Ma’ruf Amin, and religious affairs minister, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, are prominent Nahdlatul Ulama figures. Recent appointments of Indonesian ambassadors in key world capitals have included several people associated with the movement.
In what amounts to a battle for the soul of Islam to shape the faith between Middle Eastern and Asian states, Nahdlatul Ulama emphasises notions of religious moderation that contrast starkly with those for which the UAE has earned credit. Nahdlatul Ulama advocates a multi-religious and pluralistic democracy, a full and unconditional embrace of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reform of Islamic jurisprudence.
For its part, the UAE has indeed liberalized social mores including non-marital cohabitation, alcohol consumption and religious tolerance but rejects democracy as a form of governance and recognizes only parts of the universal human rights declaration. Instead, the UAE propagates an interpretation of the faith that demands absolute obedience to the ruler.
Moreover, the country’s constitution recognizes Islam as the religion of the state and Sharia as a major legal inspiration. At the same time, the UAE, unlike Nahdlatul Ulama, has steered clear of seeking to anchor its reforms in religious law and jurisprudence.
Mr. Jokowi’s straddling of his relationships with Nahdlatul Ulama and the UAE when it comes to religion and religious soft power may be complicated by criticism of Mr. Jokowi’s adherence to democratic principles.
“The president’s assaults on democracy are manifold,” thundered The Economist. It pointed to steps to suppress dissident voices, including assertion of the power to disband civil-society organisations on national-security grounds, the levelling of criminal charges against online critics, and the blocking of websites. The magazine further charged that Mr. Jokowi “surrounded himself with generals and relies ever more on the armed forces to help execute domestic policy, such as in increasing rice production.”
Alexander R. Arifianto, an Indonesia scholar at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, sounded a similar note saying that Nahdlatul Ulama’s alignment with Mr. Jokowi had left it “vulnerable to criticisms for aligning itself with a government that is increasingly dismantling Indonesia’s democratic political institutions.”
Given the group’s public commitment to freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and pluralism, Mr. Arifianto argued that Nahdlatul Ulama “should…reflect on steps to uphold its commitment to these moderate Islamic and democratic values, regardless of whether its policy preferences align with those of Indonesia’s current ruling regime.”
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Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the COP 26 summit under the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of The Parties (COP26) and clubbed it with the visit to UK. He is visiting France after the COP26 Summit. Prime Minister Chinh made a strong proposition about Vietnam’s commitments on climate change and urged the developed countries to finance the climate change mitigation efforts that Vietnam would be making to reduce carbon footprints.
During the visit to the UK, Prime Minister Chinh highlighted the importance of the Vietnam UK strategic partnership and how it has helped Vietnam to tide over the COVID-19 pandemic. As already United Kingdom is Vietnam third largest export market and with the signing of the EU- Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, it is expected that the Europe would be primary focus area for the country in terms of expanding its trade and exploring new investment opportunities. United Kingdom is also the 13th largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam.
After the COP 26 meeting, the Vietnamese Prime Minister will visit France and would exchange areas of mutual interest between the two sides. During the visit to France which will be held from November 3 to 5 it is expected that the two sides will discuss strategic partnership, increasing political interactions, improving economic relations under the EU Vietnam free trade agreement, and promoting collaboration in the fields of culture and health as well. France also looks towards Vietnam in Asia given the history of French occupation of Vietnam and the battle of the Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The two countries have signed the strategic partnership in the year 2020 and had established diplomatic relations in the year 1980.
One of the tangible outcomes of this visit would be mutual recognition of degrees and certificates so that Vietnamese students can get education in France. Vietnam has been looking for digitization in governance and continue the anti-corruption drive which has been undertaken under able leadership of the party general secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng . Vietnam aims to build e-services apps and portals for facilitating government services. France leads in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. Vietnam is seeking the technical aid and training from French Development Agency to address the challenges related to climate change.
Vietnamese Prime Minister is expected to visit Paris for seeking financial help for phase two expansion of Hoa Binh hydropower project, undertaking feasibility studies to prevent flooding of Dien Bein Phu as well as work with France in developing solar grids and conduct research in renewable energies. The Vietnamese Prime Minister is also going to seek France assistance and aid for delivery of advanced vaccines against COVID-19 virus. Given the fact that there are many advanced variants of the Corona virus are mutating therefore Vietnam would look forward for vaccinating its younger population between the age group of 12 years to 18 years.
France is also the leader in aerospace technologies, and Vietnam looks to develop small and mini satellites for understanding weather patterns and better geospatial data collection. There are few French language schools in Vietnam and Vietnamese government wants a better interaction between Vietnam and France in terms of culture and language training so that new Vietnamese students and entrepreneurs can expand Vietnamese trade and investment in France. France has also highlighted keenness to work with Vietnam in the Indo- Pacific theatre and has expressed that would be working with Vietnam in the United Nations Security Council. Vietnam has been very instrumental in supporting France entry as a development partner of ASEAN.
Earlier in 2018, when French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited Vietnam, he alluded to the fact that there is need for investment in intelligence, knowledge, skills, and training. He clearly acknowledged the fact that Vietnamese students prefer to study in French universities and Vietnam is the natural extension of Francophone Asia. During the visit the French minister stated that France will be supporting all those countries which want to promote French language and culture in their country. During the visit to Dien Bein Phu the French Prime Minister stated that “the common past” between the two countries should be remembered “in a peaceful way”. In the last visit of the French Prime Minister the two sides have signed deals related to trade and investment.
During this visit to United Kingdom, the Vietnamese Prime Minister met Vietnamese Diaspora urged the community to make contributions to the homeland through financial resources and their knowledge. Prime Minster Chinh acknowledged that nearly 100,000 people of Vietnamese origin in UK have helped in building ties between Vietnam and UK. Vietnamese community in UK also handed over cheque for COVID-19 fight in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Chinh oversaw nearly 26 cooperation agreements between Vietnam and UK during his trip for the COP 26. The 26 agreements included lowering carbon emissions, cooperation in education, human resources training, investment, and Support to the startups in Vietnam. The Vietnamese airlines Vietjet air and the Rolls Royce group also signed an agreement for supply of aircraft engine spares for the wide bodied fleet of the airlines. The agreements were in total worth billions of U.S. dollars in fields such as research and education, banking, finance, climate change, efficient energy, training, and capability building.
During the visit Prime Minister Chinh also hosted leaders of foreign multinational corporations and British universities representatives in Edinburgh. The Prime Minister assured that Vietnam is working steadfastly to improve conditions for investment in Vietnam to invite private capital and investment in sectors which are necessary for Vietnam’s economic growth. The universities also expressed support to Vietnam for developing pharmaceutical industry and basic health infrastructure. Many of the multinationals and the representatives of universities appreciated Vietnam’s effort in countering COVID-19 pandemic and undertaking conducive environment as well as tax incentives to invite foreign investment in Vietnam.
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