Health Diplomacy and Vaccine Diplomacy

“Since early on, President Joko Widodo has stressed that we are facing a war on two crucial fronts; a war against the pandemic itself and a war against its economic impact. We have to win on these two fronts. This is not an “either-or” approach nor is it a trade-off between the two. Instead, they are two sides of the same coin. That is why Indonesia pushes to counter these challenges through a comprehensive approach.” - Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Joint Press Briefing with the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to Foreign Media, 23 April 2020
SEE INFOGRAPHIC
The President of the Republic of Indonesia, together with the Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Health, attends the ASEAN Special Summit on COVID-19. One of the results of this summit was the agreement to form a "COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund" to finance the handling of COVID-19 in the ASEAN region. [April 2020]
The Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affair visits Bio Farma's research facilities. The CEPI Vaccine Association said that the due diligence on Bio Farma showed excellent results. This result was an acknowledgment of Bio Farma's capacity and quality in manufacturing vaccines. [July 2020]
The Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs witnessed the symbolic handover of 1,000 Ventilators as an assistance from the US Government to the Indonesian Government with a total value of USD16.8 million. This assistance is a follow-up to a telephone conversation between the Indonesian President and the US President on April 24, 2020. In addition to ventilator, the US also provides technical assistance and development cooperation through USAID and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [July 2020]
As the Chairman of the Foreign Policy and Global Health (FPGH) Initiative, Indonesia encourages the FPGH to be a positive force to ensure affordable vaccines for all and emphasizes that "no one is safe until everyone is safe." [September 2020]
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for SOEs witness the signing of two cooperation agreements between G42, the United Arab Emirates Health technology company, Kimia Farma, and Bio Farma. [August 2020]
During the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of SOEs to the PRC, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed between PT. Biofarma and Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd. as a form of cooperation between Indonesia and the PRC in procuring the COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesia. [August 2020]
The Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs bumped elbow with the UK First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Dominic Raab. Both agreed to continue to strengthen the spirit of bilateral and multilateral cooperation amid the immense challenges in the world, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. [October 2020]
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for SOEs meet with the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The parties agreed that once available, a safe COVID-19 vaccine had to be distributed evenly across the globe. [October 2020]
Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and Minister for SOEs Erick Thohir meet with the CEO of GAVI Alliance, Seth Berkley. [October 2020]
The Government of Indonesia and CEPI announce Indonesia’s commitment to contribute US$1 million to CEPI through the virtual signing of agreement between the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Cecep Herawan, and the CEO of CEPI, Dr. Richard Hatchett. [November 2020]
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indonesian Ministry of Health and AstraZeneca Plc as a form of cooperation between Indonesia and the UK in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on vaccine procurement. [October 2020]
The Indonesian Embassy in the Hague facilitates the purchase of 300 thousand Biozek COVID-19 rapid test kits by Kimia Farma from Inzek, the Netherlands, with a value of €3.63 million (approximately IDR62 billion). [April 2020]
As many as 1.8 million Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac arrived in Indonesia on Thursday (31/12/2020). The arrival of 1.8 million vaccines is the second batch of shipments and completes the total number of Sinovac vaccines in the country to 3 million doses. [December 2020]

Health Diplomacy and Vaccine Diplomacy

“Since early on, President Joko Widodo has stressed that we are facing a war on two crucial fronts; a war against the pandemic itself and a war against its economic impact. We have to win on these two fronts. This is not an “either-or” approach nor is it a trade-off between the two. Instead, they are two sides of the same coin. That is why Indonesia pushes to counter these challenges through a comprehensive approach.” - Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Joint Press Briefing with the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to Foreign Media, 23 April 2020

Health Diplomacy

Indonesian diplomacy is aimed at meeting short-term needs as well as more strategic long-term interests, including strengthening health security and national health independence.

Vaccine Diplomacy

Indonesian diplomacy paves the way to the access of vaccine supply commitments through bilateral and multilateral channels.

Note: All shown data are as of December 31, 2020.

Economic Recovery Diplomacy