Q: Can you tell us more about your
background?
A:
After graduating, I began as an
educator teaching middle school and
then later in my career becoming a
professor for a master degree pro-
gram at a private university in In-
donesia teaching diplomacy. Prior to
my assignment as a Consul General,
I was the director for the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs’ Mid-career Dip-
lomatic school. I have been working
with Indonesian foreign affairs for
the past 23 years, starting in 1995. I
was assigned to be the head of politi-
cal affairs in Manila, where I would
go on to earn my PhD. After that, I
worked in Bangkok for the United
Nations economic and social affairs.
Since last September I have been able
to represent Indonesia here in Hous-
ton as the acting Consul General,
covering a jurisdiction that stretches
from New Mexico to Florida, also
including Puerto Rico and The U.S.
Virgin Islands.
Q: What can you tell us about your
50 iF Magazine | May 2018
42
past assignments?
A: Every place has its own unique-
ness about it. In Manila my team and
I worked negotiating and monitoring
relations between the Government
of the Philippines and the Separatist
group there. In Bangkok I was work-
ing directly with the United Nations
and the dynamic was focused on
multilateral relationships with many
countries, rather than my experienc-
es in Manila and now in Houston,
that is about the bilateral relationship
between Indonesia and the United
States.
Q: With what kind of mindset you do
you approach your duties as Consul
General?
A:
The strategy that I approach
diplomatic relations is made up of
three pillars. First being promotion
of economics and investment, both
in tourism and business development.
Secondly is person-to-person inter-
action, educating the people of the
United States about our culture and
way of life. Lastly is protecting Indo-
nesian citizens abroad, offering our
support and services to help their ef-
forts to live in the United States. I am
very proud of Indonesia’s progres-
sive economy. With our trade surplus
with the United States being around
18.8%, investment in Indonesian en-
terprises has increased 71.5% from
2016 and tourism from the United
States has increased 13.11% in 2017.
We work very closely with the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, especially in
areas under our jurisdiction to find
new investment opportunities and
strengthen existing ones. Last week
we joined the Dallas Travel Show
and a cruise destination expedition
to promote tourism.
Q: What is the dynamic of Indone-
sians living in the United States?
A:
Under our jurisdiction we have
around 20,000 Indonesian citizens
and an even larger number of Indo-
nesian Americans that we assist with
our services. The top three areas with
the largest groupings of Indonesian
populous is Houston, Atlanta, and
Florida. Our Houston site is the larg-