Indonesia and Poland established diplomatic relations on 19 September 1955. Indonesia has an embassy in Warsaw, while Poland has an embassy in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. Other than similar red-and-white flags, Indonesia and Poland share a similar course of history through enduring revolutions, wars for independence and maintaining national unity. Both nations have agreed to expand bilateral relations in trade, culture and education sectors, through programs such as staging art exhibitions to proposing student exchange programs and provide scholarships.

History

The historical links between Poland and Indonesia dates back to the colonial era of

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. Circa 19th century Polish people began to migrate to East Indies. The former Medan's airport Polonia was named after Poland. The airport was built on a tobacco plantation once owned by Baron Michalsky in 1872, a Polish immigrant that named his estate "Polonia", a Latin name for Poland. Following the restoration of independent Poland after World War I, an honorary consulate of Poland in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

was founded in 1921, and an honorary vice-consulate in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

was founded in 1938. Polish and Indonesian military contingents cooperated as part of the

UNEF II The Second United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) was established by United Nations General Assembly, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 340 (1973), to supervise the ceasefire between Egyptian and Israeli forces at the ...

peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula in the 1970s, with the Poles providing transportation for Indonesian troops and equipment. Polish rescue workers and medics took part in the relief operation after the

2006 Yogyakarta earthquake The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake (also known as the Bantul earthquake) occurred at with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum MSK intensity of VIII (''Damaging''). Several factors led to a disproportionate amount of damage and number of casualt ...

. The Indonesian Ambassador to Poland Hendra S. Pramana has personally thanked the rescuers upon their return to Poland. In 2006, a defense cooperation agreement was signed in Jakarta.

High level visits

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Senate of Poland 01

The first high level visit from Indonesia was President

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

visit to Poland in 1959, followed 44 years later by his daughter President

Megawati Sukarnoputri Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004. She previously served as the eighth Vice President of Indonesia, vice president f ...

in 2003. President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...

also made a state visit to Poland in 2013. Meanwhile, the first Polish president to visit Indonesia was President Aleksander Kwaśniewski in 2004 and then followed by PM Marek Belka in 2005. In January 2013 the Polish Parliament delegation led by Krzysztof Klosowski visited their counterparts Indonesian Parliament in Jakarta.

Trade and investment

In 2011 Polish exports to Indonesia is 1.1 trillion rupiah (US$121 million), while its imports reached 6.6 trillion rupiah (US$720 million), making the trade balance heavily in favor to Indonesia. Poland mainly sells machinery, military equipments and weapons, and chemicals to Indonesia, while buying coal,

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, wooden furniture, crude

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

, and agricultural products from Indonesia. Usually the Indonesian-origin furnitures are being finished in Poland and re-export to other European markets. Polish investment in Indonesia in 1st quarter of 2012 reached US$7 million in electronics and intermodal container. While the Polish investments in coal mining, furniture and agriculture show the figure US$155 million.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Indonesia has an embassy in Warsaw. * Poland has an embassy in

. File:Ambasada Indonezji ul. Estońska 3-5 w Warszawie.jpg, Embassy of Indonesia in Warsaw

Notes

External links