St Kitts and Nevis and Indonesia seek momentum in bilateral ties

In a step to improve ties with Indonesia, St Kitts and Nevis’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) welcomed last week a team of senior delegates from its counterpart from the Southeast Asian nation. The Indonesian representatives were led by Andre Omer Siregar, Minister of the Directorate for Latin America and the Caribbean in the country’s foreign affairs ministry, and he was accompanied by officials from the ministry’s Development Cooperation Directorate. 

The island-nations, both of which are prone to natural disasters, aim to recast their partnership toward sustainability and resilience. 

St Kitts and Nevis’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release on December 11, 2024, in which it mentioned that Dr Mutryce Williams, the country’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, expressed Basseterre’s willingness to seek fresh momentum for bilateral efforts as it strives towards Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. 

She also pitched St Kitts and Nevis’s Sustainable Island State Agenda (SISA) and highlighted the government’s firm intention to promote a new development paradigm with bilateral partners that emphasized on factors such as sustainability, resilience, equity and inclusion.  

“The green and blue economy were flagged as key areas for intensified cooperation,” the press release added. 

Ambassador Williams projected St Kitts and Nevis’s light manufacturing, and cultural and creative sectors as greener pastures for renewed investment as the government sets its eyes on diversifying the economy for its people’s stability and security. 

Envoys pledge to work more closely

During their interaction, both diplomats pledged to work more closely at the UN as they focus on making new avenues for reorienting the partnership towards the twin goals of economic empowerment and social mobility. The St Kitts and Nevis’s envoy thanked Jakarta for its extended support in key sectors such as agriculture, art and crafts, training and capacity building over the years and assured the Asian nation’s delegation of her country’s unwavering commitment to revitalized ties. 

The envoy-level talks took place after the foreign minister of St Kitts and Nevis sought consolidation of traditional ties while diversifying the country’s diplomatic portfolio in emerging economies and high-growth regions. 

The year 2024 marked a decade since St Kitts and Nevis and Indonesia set up diplomatic relations. In 2019, the Asian nation established its first honorary consul office in the Caribbean nation to improve cooperation, particularly in trade, and extend services to Indonesian nationals living in St Kitts and Nevis. 

Trade ties between the two nations have also improved over the years. In 2023, Indonesia’s exports to St Kitts and Nevis were worth US$2.35 million while imports were worth US$721, the UN’s COMTRADE sources on international trade showed. Indonesia also invites students from St Kitts and Nevis to study.