Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

established diplomatic relations in 1952. Canada has an embassy in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

while Indonesia maintains an embassy in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. Indonesia also has consulates in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Canada and Indonesia are partners in a number of multilateral organizations, such as

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy , economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of Association of Southeast Asia ...

(APEC), the

G-20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

Cairns Group The Cairns Group (Cairns Group of Fair Trading Nations) is an interest group of 20 agricultural exporting countries, composed of: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zeal ...

, and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(WTO).

History

Relations between the two countries began in 1948, when Indonesia was struggling to gain international recognition for its

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from its former colonizers since 1945. Canada, through General

Andrew McNaughton General (Canada), General Andrew George Latta McNaughton (25 February 1887 – 11 July 1966) was a Canadian Electrical engineering, electrical engineer, scientist, army officer, Minister (government), cabinet minister, and diplomat. Before th ...

as the President of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, managed to break the deadlock in the negotiation on resolving the conflict between Indonesia and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

that resulted in the adoption of Resolution 67/1949, which endorsed the establishment of a

Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference (; Indonesian: ) was held in The Hague from 23 August to 2 November 1949, between representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Indonesia and the Federal Consultative Assembly, ...

. Tripartite negotiations lead to the international recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty in December 1949. Furthermore, Indonesia-Canada diplomatic relations formally began when the two countries signed an agreement to open diplomatic missions in their respective capitals on October 9th, 1952. Relations have been generally cordial. Both countries shared similar views on the

Archipelagic state An archipelagic state is an island country that consists of one or more archipelagos. The designation is legally defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 ( UNCLOS III). The Bahamas, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea ...

principle during negotiations on the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...

. Indonesia and Canada were both members of the

International Commission of Control and Supervision The International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) was an international monitoring force created on 27 January 1973. It was formed, following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords ("Paris Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peac ...

in Vietnam.

Development assistance

Canada began to support economic development in Indonesia through the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

during the 1950s. For thirty years between 1967 and 2007, Canada provided aid to Indonesia within the international coordination arrangements established under the

Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia The Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) was established in 1967 as an international consortium of official donors to coordinate the provision of foreign assistance to Indonesia. IGGI was the lead official grouping of donors to Indonesia fr ...

and the

Consultative Group on Indonesia Consultation or consultative may refer to: * Public consultation, a process by which the public's input on matters affecting them is sought * Consultation (Texas), the 1835 Texas meeting of colonists on a proposed rebellion against the Republic of ...

. As a development partner, Canada works closely with Indonesia to support sustainable economic growth and reduce vulnerability to poverty. The

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

(CIDA) managed Canada's bilateral program for development assistance to Indonesia until it was folded into

Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

. CIDA made Indonesia a major "country of concentration" for Canadian development cooperation, with Indonesia ranked as high as second place among Canadian aid recipients in the 1980s.

Trade

Canada and Indonesia enjoy strong trade relations. Indonesia is one of Canada’s largest merchandise trading partner with total two-way merchandise trade of $5.1 billion in 2023. Canada’s exports to Indonesia were worth $2.3 billion and Canada’s imports to Indonesia were worth $2.8 billion. Exports and imports of products in this trade include

manufactured goods Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

agricultural products Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domestication, domestic ...

, and

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

. Canada also has significant investment interests in Indonesia, with Canadian direct investment valued at $6.7 billion in 2023, making it the second largest destination for known Canadian direct investment in the region. The major sector both by number of projects and investment value is the mining industry. The largest number of Canadian investment projects are on the island of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, but the largest dollar value of investment is located in

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

External links

The Embassy of Republic of Indonesia in Ottawa, Canada

The Embassy of Canada in Jakarta, Indonesia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Indonesia relations Bilateral relations of Indonesia

History

Development assistance

Trade

See also

External links

References