Find the latest news for Indonesia
On this page
Embassies and consular services for Indonesia
| Location | Service areas |
|---|---|
| Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia | |
| New Zealand Embassy and New Zealand Mission to ASEAN | Indonesia, ASEAN |
Our relationship with Indonesia
New Zealand enjoys a strong relationship with Indonesia and in 2023 we celebrated sixty-five years of diplomatic relations. Indonesia is a close Indo-Pacific partner to New Zealand and important for New Zealand’s prosperity and security. Indonesia is a priority relationship for New Zealand as we re-energise our key relationships in Southeast Asia under the Government’s Foreign Policy Reset.
Our trade and economic ties are growing, with further potential to grow New Zealand exports in dairy, agricultural expertise, horticultural products, and in services including tourism and education. Indonesia is also an important partner for New Zealand in combatting transnational organised crime, including terrorism, people smuggling, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
In 2024, there was a series of high-level visits and meetings demonstrating the significance of the relationship – including a visit by the Vice President of Indonesia to New Zealand, a meeting between Prime Minister Luxon and then President Jokowi in Australia on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Peters to Jakarta, and a visit from the Indonesian Foreign Minister to New Zealand in July. Deputy Prime Minister Peters visited Jakarta for the inauguration of President Prabowo in October 2024 and finally, Prime Minister Luxon met with President Prabowo in November 2024 in the margins of APEC Leaders Week in Peru.
New Zealand has a Comprehensive Partnership with Indonesia, and a Plan of Action (which has just been renewed for 2025-2029) with six pillars:
- cementing and expanding our ‘friends for good ties’;
- enhancing the trade and economic relationship;
- renewable energy and environment cooperation;
- education, tourism, science, technology, and innovation and people to people cooperation;
- development cooperation;
- defence, security, cyber and maritime cooperation; and regional and multilateral cooperation.
We also work with Indonesia regionally through APEC, East Asia Summit, Pacific Islands Forum, and other regional and international forums.
Defence and security
Geographically, Indonesia is our closest Asian neighbour. A secure and stable Indonesia supports New Zealand’s own security and resilience. It also contributes to maintaining an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
There has been increasing bilateral defence engagement, including a visit by the New Zealand Chief of Defence Force to Jakarta in October 2023. Minister of Defence, Judith Collins also attended the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM++) in November 2024. New Zealand and Indonesia cooperate closely on a number of regional security issues, in particular irregular migration and counterterrorism. We refreshed our Cooperation arrangement on Counterterrorism in December 2023, and work closely with Indonesia in the Bali Process on issues relating to people smuggling and human trafficking. New Zealand has also invested in the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) – an organisation that is part of the legacy of the Bali bombings, designed to promote information sharing among law enforcement agencies to prevent transnational crime.
Trade and economic
Indonesia is projected to be within the world’s top 10 largest economies by 2030. Our trade is complementary – each country produces what the other needs to buy. Through our Comprehensive Partnership, New Zealand and Indonesia have a mutually agreed goal of growing two-way trade in goods to NZ$6 billion by 2029.
Information about New Zealand's trade with Indonesia is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link).
Free trade agreements with Indonesia
We have regional free trade agreements that include Indonesia:
- ASEAN-Australia-NZ FTA - AANZFTA.(external link)
- ASEAN Information(external link)
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).(external link)
- Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity
People and culture
New Zealand and Indonesia’s people to people ties are growing, with the Indonesian diaspora in New Zealand numbering more than 10,000. Tourism and education ties are a strength in the relationship. Two-way visitor numbers have continued to increase post-COVID. Indonesia has set a goal to attract 150,000 New Zealand tourists per year (in the year to March 2024, 57,500 New Zealanders travelled to Indonesia – principally to Bali). The re-launch of Air New Zealand’s seasonal Bali service in 2023 and last year extending this to a year-round service, is important for strengthening people-to-people connections.
New Zealand is working to attract more Indonesian students to study in New Zealand (there are currently 895 enrolled Indonesian students at New Zealand tertiary institutions). A formal Education Cooperation Arrangement was established in 2011 to encourage relationships between educational authorities and tertiary providers in each country.
The Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships Programme(external link) provides tertiary and short-term training scholarships to Indonesia’s scholars. for Eastern Indonesia (INSPIRASI), and support for post-graduate and PhD studies.
Development cooperation and sustainability
New Zealand has a long-standing development programme in Indonesia – our second largest outside of the Pacific. We also support Indonesia through a number of regional initiatives that make up part of the ASEAN programme. New Zealand and Indonesia have agreed to a five-year Joint Statement of Partnership to guide development cooperation from 2025-2029.
Joint efforts in international forums on issues such as the challenges facing archipelagic island states, irregular migration, advancing democratic values, sustainable development, disaster risk management, and regional security highlight our shared priorities.
New Zealand and Indonesia have had long-standing collaboration on renewable energy (including geothermal), and cooperation on environmental conservation and sustainable agriculture. New Zealand’s expertise is aimed at assisting Indonesia’s priorities, including its energy transition, as outlined in its national development plans.
The latest information on our IDC activities, including activity details and descriptions, start and end dates, geographic and sectoral focus, expenditure figures, is available at DevData(external link).
Find out more about our Development Partnership with Indonesia.