Bilateral relations focus on promoting economic ties, global issues such as climate change mitigation, sustainable development strategies, Germany’s assistance in reforming the Indonesian vocational training sector and cooperation in international organisations. Cooperation on many overarching issues intensified in 2022 during the parallel German G7 Presidency and Indonesian G20 Presidency. The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was launched on 15 November 2022 between Indonesia, the G7 (during Germany’s Presidency) and other partners with a view to accelerating the Indonesian energy transition.

A strategic dialogue was also launched between the two countries’ Foreign Ministers in 2022.

As the largest members of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) respectively, Germany and Indonesia have numerous common focal points on the regional policy front, too.

As the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia is an important partner in dialogue on religious issues and the prevention of radicalisation.

Following the downturn caused by the pandemic the previous year, bilateral trade recovered further in 2022 to around €8.4 billion, of which exports from Germany totalled €3.0 billion.

No investment protection agreement has been in place since 2017, while negotiations on an EU-Indonesian free trade agreement are underway. Indonesia’s role in the field of climate and environment is of global relevance – not only because of its extensive forests and rich biodiversity, but also because it is one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, in particular from the energy sector. Indonesia has committed to the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement. The energy sector will play a decisive role in enabling Indonesia to achieve its NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution). Germany is one of Indonesia’s largest development partners, the focus being on promoting renewables, developing climate-friendly infrastructure, conserving forests and reforming vocational training.

Germany enjoys an excellent reputation as a place to study and engage in research and has for years been one of the top choices for Indonesian students wanting to study abroad. The German language also remains very popular in Indonesia. There are currently more than 150,000 Indonesians learning German.