Former Indonesian Diplomat Urges Prabowo to Reduce Overseas Visits

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), Dino Patti Djalal, has provided five suggestions to President Prabowo Subianto, who has been criticized for frequently traveling abroad.

In a video posted on his Instagram, @dinopattidjalal, Dino conveyed that many Indonesian citizens have requested President Prabowo to significantly reduce his overseas travels and not dismiss public outcry regarding this matter.

"In our calculations, among all world leaders, President Prabowo has become the head of state who travels abroad the most frequently," said Dino.

The former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that during his presidency, Prabowo has spent 1 out of his total 6 days abroad. Therefore, it comes as no surprise when some people say that these overseas diplomatic visits are unusual. He also believes that in the next 18 months, President Prabowo will continue to make international visits at the same high frequency.

"State visits abroad incur significant, even enormous, costs," Dino stated.

The expenses include the accompanying delegation's advance team, flight costs, hotel expenses, logistics, protocol and security costs, daily allowances for all delegates and accompanying staff, and various other expenses. Dino mentioned that one overseas trip can cost tens or even hundreds of billions.

Hence, Dino presented five suggestions to Prabowo. Firstly, to maintain communication with other world leaders, Dino recommended that Prabowo rely more on video calls, Zoom calls, or phone calls. "In my experience, a bilateral visit usually revolves around a single discussion that lasts for one or, at most, two hours, and the rest is mere formalities, banquets, and ceremonies that are often unnecessary," he said.

According to Dino, with one zero-cost video call, the country can practically save hundreds of billions from overseas trips, and the substance of the outcome would be more or less the same. The cost-saving action through Zoom calls can address the public perception that President's foreign travels tend to be extravagant sightseeing tours.

Dino cited the example of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has called US President Donald Trump 17 times and has yet to hold a bilateral meeting with him. Despite the United States being Mexico's largest trading partner.

"Furthermore, during a working visit to Spain, President Sheinbaum even flew in economy class on a commercial plane to set an example for her people about implementing cost-saving measures throughout her administration, which also applies to the president," he stated.

The second suggestion is for President Prabowo to save on costs and time by utilizing visits to an international forum to meet with other attending heads of state. Dino mentioned that reportedly, when attending a UN session in New York last year, Finnish President Alexander Stubb asked for a meeting with President Prabowo in New York, but never received a response.

Dino also recounted that at the recent ASEAN summit in Cebu, the request from a head of state of an ASEAN country for a directed bilateral meeting with Prabowo was never responded to. He does not know the reason why the request was ignored by the government.

"We suggest implementing the Formula 1 plus 8, which means that when attending international forums like Davos, the UN in New York, ASEAN, G20, and others, in addition to delivering a speech, the President can also meet or at least interact with eight other attending heads of state," said Dino.

Dino mentioned the number eight because it is Prabowo's favorite number. The third suggestion is for President Prabowo's international visits to be carried out professionally and well-planned.

Dino observed that there were several visits that were spontaneous, without clear planning and objectives. The overall plan for the President's international visits needs to be mapped out one year in advance.

"Either Cabinet Secretary Teddy or Foreign Minister Sugiono needs to announce the President's visit plan to a country one month in advance, or at least one week before the D-Day, and also announce it together with the country to be visited," Dino said.

Dino stated that President's visits to Pakistan and Russia during the Sumatra flood disaster, for instance, were done without any prior information to the public. He believes the palace needs to uphold accountability and transparency because the public often doesn't know where the President is when abroad.

Fourthly, for the next year, President Prabowo is asked to receive more state guests in the homeland rather than travel abroad. Dino mentioned this strategy is also done by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who receives far more state guests in Beijing than he travels abroad.

Fifthly, Dino suggested that in the future, most tactically diplomatic missions can be delegated to Foreign Minister Sugiono. According to Dino, this step will also save costs, as the Foreign Minister's travel expenses may only be accompanied by three staff members, thus a far more economical option with roughly similar results and substance.

"However, in this case, Foreign Minister Sugiono needs to detach himself from being part of the President's entourage, which requires him to always be by the President's side," he said.

Dino mentioned that previous foreign ministers have never positioned themselves as part of the President's entourage and they were entirely focused on handling foreign politics.

Dino said that what he had mentioned represents the feelings of the majority of the people. Amid an atmosphere of concern and worry due to global turmoil, Dino stated that the Indonesian people are no longer impressed by the grandeur of diplomatic protocols.

"The people expect their leaders to demonstrate sensitivity and appropriateness when traveling abroad," said Dino Patti Djalal.

Read: Academics Warn of Remilitarization in Indonesia Under Prabowo

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