Indonesians and Australians can help improve the relationship between their nations through the use of social media, leading figures from both countries suggested at a forum on Thursday.

Speakers at the Indonesia-Australia Dialogue, held this week at the Four Seasons Hotel in South Jakarta, pointed to forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter as ways to improve people-to-people links between the countries, thereby spurring better diplomatic and business ties.

“[Social media is] cost-effective and reaches younger generations,” said Ima Abdurrahim of the Habibie Center, a foundation that promotes modernization and democracy. Ima added that online contact could address the “stereotypes that we both have to work on.”

Business, media, education, and science leaders attending the event concluded that contact through social media could help diminish negative stereotypes on both sides by adding a human element.

Speaking at the event, Rizal Sukma of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said greater communication was essential for boosting bilateral relations.

“We need to continue the dialogue through our youth interacting with new technologies,” he said.
Communication, education and trade were identified as the most critical avenues for improving relations.

While diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Australia remain stable, there are frequent rifts over issues like people smuggling, terrorism and legal and humanitarian issues. These issues can escalate because of cultural misunderstandings.

Speakers on Thursday pledged to make the Indonesia-Australia Dialogue a regular event and to organize additional smaller discussions.

By bringing together leaders in business, innovation and youth affairs, the inaugural dialogue aimed to foster new perspectives in both countries and to spur discussion on how they could expand their relationship into different sectors.

Educational exchange was singled out as an important element of the Indonesia-Australia relationship. While Indonesian enrollment at Australian institutions remains high, Australian students seem less interested in learning about their Asian neighbors than ever before. Speakers warned that Indonesian-language studies could cease to exist in Australian schools within eight years.

Trade was also a major focus, including the need to address problems of red tape on both sides. Corruption and convoluted bureaucratic procedures were blamed for complicating trade, which speakers attributed to a lack of trust resulting from cultural differences.

The dialogue was initiated in response to comments made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his address to Australia’s Parliament last year in which he urged both nations to “expunge [the] preposterous mental caricatures” each held of the other.

The president said many Australians still thought of Indonesia as an authoritarian state, while many Indonesians believed Australia still enforced a race-based immigration policy.

Speaking at this week’s event, former Australian ambassador John McCarthy said that the two nations still had a long way to go toward reaching a mutual cultural understanding.

“The relationship between Indonesia and Australia will never be problem-free,” he said. “But if there is a vibrant level of relationships between sectors, [it can prosper].”?

Catriona Richards & Olivia Cable

This article was originally published in The Jakarta Globe