Forum Indonesia - Nederland (FINED) and Interfel

Forum Indonesia-Nederland (FINED) and Forum Nederland-Indonesia (FNI) were founded simultaneously on January 12, 1995, respectively in Jakarta and in The Hague. FNI recently became Stichting Nederland Indonesia Conferentie (NIC). The reason that led to the founding of these organizations was the debacle of the official relations between the governments of the two countries in respect of development cooperation. The founding fathers of both forums were aware that contacts needed to be maintained between the two societies. The ties between Indonesia and The Netherlands, based on shared history, had to be given new form and content in by other ways and means. The founding fathers in Indonesia were Drs. Frans Seda, Dr. Radius Prawiro, Prof. Dr. Haryati Soebadio, Atmono Soerjo, Msc., Prof. Dr. Mohammad Sadli, Prof. Dr. Emil Salim, Ir. Joseph Pesik, Drs. Ferry Sonneville(†), Prof. Dr. Fuad Hassan and Mr. Soedarpo Sastrosastomo.

The founders of FINED, with the support of its members, took action to implement the objectives and goals. This was not always easy under the unfavorable prevailing political and monetary situation. In spite of that, driven by a strong political will to foster ties with the Dutch community, the Forum has prevailed. Special attention was given to the involvement of the younger generation.

On August 22-23, 1995 the first annual meeting was held with the Dutch counterpart, Forum Nederland-Indonesia, in Jakarta. One of the results of this meeting was the formation of a number of commissions to coordinate cooperation in the fields of economy and business, politics, technology, the environment, education, art and culture, health, and the exploitation of natural resources.

A further important step was the launch of a job training and internship plan, where more than 150 young professionals in a variety of fields (government, business, health, journalism, culture) received the opportunity to train and work in The Netherlands. This gesture was made as a present to Indonesia in the framework of the 50 th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia. These young professionals later organized themselves under the name International Fellows (Interfel) and became the core that organised many other activities and projects.

The second annual meeting was held in Rotterdam from November 5-8, 1996. This meeting was attended by an Indonesian delegation led by Coordinating Minister for Industry, Dr. Ir. Hartarto Sastrosoenarto. This meeting was attended by 250 Indonesian delegates, 85 of which were members of FINED.

The third annual meeting was held in Surabaya from December 17-19, 1997. Present were amongst others the Dutch Minister for Economical Affairs and Mrs. Wijers, a number of prominent figures from the diplomatic service, and members of FINED and FNI.

In November 2000, a modest meeting was held in the idyllic village of Linggarjati on the foothills of the majestic Mount Cireme, in the framework of a conference on the environment. This environmental conference was organized solely by FINED.

In October of 2002, FINED hosted a symposium in Jakarta in the framework of the Linggajati Museum renovation project, in cooperation with the Stichting Vrienden van Linggarjati (Friends of Linggarjati Foundation), Interfel, the Kuningan Regional Government and the Ikatan Alumni Nederland (IKANED, an organization of Indonesian alumni, mostly from Dutch universities). Besides the symposium, an exposition with the theme “Reflections on Linggarjati”was held. The panel discussions during the symposium were attended by prominent historians from both countries, prominent citizens, high school students, and even eye witnesses from the time of the Linggarjati Conference.

Since the establishment of Interfel on April 26, 2002, slowly but surely the FINED activities are being taken over by this younger generation; some of the projects are in cooperation with FINED, other projects and activities are organised and developed on the initiative of Interfel on its own.

Jakarta, August 26, 2003

Forum Indonesia – Nederland

The Board of Directors