Career
Ibnu joined the foreign ministry in March 1991. Around 1998,Ibnu was posted at the information and cultural section of the Indonesian embassy in Canada with the rank of third secretary. [3] [4] He served as the embassy's spokesperson. During his tenure,the embassy had to laid off local staff and cut its staff salaries by 25 percent due to the ongoing financial crisis at that time. [5]
Afterwards,in the mid-2000s,Ibnu was posted at the Indonesian consulate general in Osaka,where he served as its consul for economic affairs. He was involved in promoting Indonesian products in the city. [6] [7] He also attempted to climb Mount Fuji during his tenure in Osaka. [8] He was then assigned to the director of political,security,and territorial treaties,during which he announced that Indonesia still has unresolved border disputes over the years. [9]
Around 2011,Ibnu became the chief of planning and organization of the foreign ministry's secretariat general,during which he worked closely with his similarly named counterpart Ibnu Said,the minister's advisor (expert staff) for management,to implement bureaucratic reforms within the ministry,earning them the nickname "the two Ibnus" (duo Ibnu). He also oversaw the implementation of performance allowance for civil servants in the ministry [10] and the introduction of web conferencing for budget planning coordination. [11]
In 2013,Ibnu became the deputy chief of mission at the Indonesian embassy in The Hague,serving under ambassador Retno Marsudi. Following Retno's appointment as foreign minister,Ibnu became the chargéd'affaires ad interim [12] until the arrival of the new ambassador,I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja,in early 2016. In October 2017 Ibnu was nominated by President Joko Widodo as ambassador to Portugal. [13] Upon passing an assessment by the House of Representatives,on 20 February 2018 he was installed as ambassador. [14] He presented his credentials to the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on 29 May that year. [15]
As ambassador,Ibnu aimed to deepen mutual understanding beyond stereotypes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Bali and attempts to utilize cultural diplomacy through the promotion of Indonesian fashion,music (notably keroncong influenced by Portuguese fado),and film as bridges between the nations. [16] He also oversaw attempt for Indonesia to become an observer member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and met with CPLP's executive secretary,Francisco Ribeiro Telles,to initiate the process. [17] Through its past,as well as its observer status in the CPLP,Ibnu attempted to build a strong "trilateral friendship" between Indonesia,Portugal,and Timor-Leste. [18]
On 18 August 2021,Ibnu was installed as the foreign ministry's inspector general. [19] Early in his tenure,in December 2021 the foreign ministry received the Public Service Compliance Standards Award from the ombudsman. [20] He also introduced digitalization initiatives within the foreign ministry to cut costs,obtain real-time follow-ups,simplify the input of supporting data,and speed up reconciliations. These digitalization initiatives were implemented through several applications,such as the e-Audit application,a set of online audit guidelines created during the pandemic,the Internal Oversight Information System,which was launched prior to his term in December 2020,and other supporting apps. Ibnu stated that the initiatives were inspired by his experience on implementing web conferencing for budget planning coordination. [11]
In August 2024,President Joko Widodo nominated Ibnu as Indonesia's ambassador to Finland,with concurrent accreditation to the Estonia. He passed a fit and proper test held by the House of Representative's first commission in September that year [21] and was installed by President Prabowo Subianto on 24 March 2025. [22] Shortly after his installation,he and five other new ambassadors from UGM met with UGM rector Ova Emilia [23] and Yogyakarta governor Hamengkubuwono X. [24]
