Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy
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Indonesian political parties sign agreement for future collaboration
During a three-day visit to the Netherlands hosted by NIMD, seven Indonesian political parties and their Dutch counterparts agreed upon future collaboration to stimulate the democratization process in Indonesia.
During their stay from 25 to 27 April 2007, which included a conference and several meetings, the participants discussed the possible future cooperation amongst each other and with Dutch political parties.
One of the issues discussed at the conference, which was organized by NIMD, NCDO and the SID Netherlands Branch, discussed the Comprehensive Partnership between Indonesia and the Netherlands. This is an initiative to stimulate bilateral relations that was launched by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Dr Hassan Wirajuda and Dr Ben Bot last year. The Indonesians also visited the NIMD office where they exchanged ideas with representatives of their Dutch counterparts and with NIMD staff.
The Indonesian representatives, who occupy significant positions in their parties, were accompanied by two members of the National Steering Committee of NIMD’s Indonesian partner Komunitas Indonesia untuk Demokrasi.
After this collective, three-day investigation of common interests and themes, the Indonesian party politicians agreed to issue a joint statement that constitutes a first formal step towards future collaboration among themselves and the Dutch political parties.
Since several years NIMD has been working in five regions in Indonesia, focusing on training young politicians, women and political activists - those who could become the future generation of politicians. The joint statement is the first step to engage political parties at the national level in the NIMD programme in Indonesia.
As a follow-up to the Indonesian visit to The Hague, NIMD plans to pay a return visit in mid-June 2007 to Jakarta. The new President of NIMD, Dr Bernard Bot, will lead this mission.
