Indonesia and Singapore established diplomatic relations on 7 September 1967,[1] a month after the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 8 August 1967. Indonesia and Singapore are two of the five founding members of ASEAN (including Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines). Both nations are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement and APEC.
Over the years, Indonesia and Singapore have maintained regular exchanges of high-level visits, underpinned by strong economic cooperation across a wide range of sectors, including health, defence and the environment. In the past decade, Singapore has consistently been Indonesia's top foreign investor.
2017 marked the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in a celebration event known as RISING50, an amalgamation of “RI” for the Republic of Indonesia and “SING” for Singapore.[2]
History
The relations between ancient Indonesia and Singapore dated back from the period of ancient kingdoms, the straits region was part of Srivijaya’s realm back in 7th century. The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy written in 1365 during Majapahit era, also referred to a settlement on the island called Temasek ('Sea Town' in Old Javanese, spelt Tumasik).
In the 1390s, a Palembang prince, Parameswara, fled to Temasek after being deposed by the Majapahit kingdom. During the 14th century, Singapore was caught in the struggle between Siam (now Thailand) and the Java-based Majapahit Empire for control over the Malay Peninsula. According to Sejarah Melayu, Singapore was defeated in one Majapahit attack. He ruled the island for several years, before being forced to Melaka where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca.[3]
In early 1965, a group of Indonesian soldiers blew up a building in Singapore (while it was still a part of Malaysia). Two of the soldiers were arrested and sentenced to death. The execution took place in 1968.[4]
After the independence of Indonesia in 1945 and the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, both countries opened bilateral diplomatic ties on 1966. In 1967, they founded ASEAN together with Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia, to strive for peace and stability in the region. Formal diplomatic relations was established between Singapore and Indonesia on 7 September 1967.
50th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations
Fly past of joint Indonesian and Singaporean Air Forces F-16 fighter jets
The golden jubilee of Indonesia-Singapore diplomatic relations was marked by a series of events in August: A "four-eye" meeting between the two leaders, RISING50 book launch, joint commemorative stamps issue, tree planting at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The first ever combined flypast of 20 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU) was also held, in a formation of the number "50". On the economic front, an investment forum was held and nine memoranda of understandings(MOUs) were signed, including cooperations in education and research, student exchanges, environment and energy.[2]
Trade and commerce
Located on the busiest sea lane in Strait of Malacca, serving as one of world's main hub, trade with and through Singapore is important for Indonesia to provide the link to trade with the rest of the world. Vice versa, Indonesian business is also important for Singapore. Trade and commerce is the main common motivation of both nations foreign relations, each counterpart are main trade partners of each other.
Indonesia-Singapore trade volume reaches S$36 billion (US$29.32 billion). Singapore is Indonesia's top foreign investor, with a cumulative total of US$1.14 billion in 142 projects. Trade between the two countries also hit around $68 billion in 2010. At the same time, Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to Singapore are the highest in the region.[5]
The export of poultry meat from Indonesia to Singapore increased significantly after the Malaysian chicken export ban. A deal was agreed when on 30 June 2022, Singapore approved Indonesia as the country's new source of frozen and chilled chicken.[6] On 21 July 2022, a second Indonesian company began supplying chickens to Singapore.[7]
On 21 July 2022, Indonesia announced that they will be willing to set up a large chicken farm in Batam, a city in the Riau Islands, specifically for exports to Singapore. These chickens would be fresh as well, as Batam and Singapore are geographically close. It is believed that such a farm could begin operations in 2023.[8] Similarly, Singapore already had a deal with Indonesia for years to import fresh pork from a farm located on an island close to Batam, known as Bulan Island.[9] On 28 July 2022, another Indonesian firm announced that they will be setting up three farms on the island of Bintan to supply live chicken to Singapore starting from the end of that year.[10]
Tourism
Singapore is Indonesia's number one source of visitors with 1,373,126 visitors in 2010.[11] Vice versa, Indonesia is also top source of visitors for Singapore, reaching 2,592,222 visitors in 2011.[12]
Other than business purposes, Indonesian visitors attracted to Singapore mostly for shopping, city sightseeing, and island resorts with its theme parks, zoos, museums and gardens. While Singaporeans attracted to Indonesia mostly for its nature and culture, Bali and neighboring Batam island are particularly popular among Singapore visitors.
Relations with Indonesia are generally good, though current outstanding issues include the bans on the export of sand and granite,[13] both of which Singapore's construction industry is reliant on.
Singapore scarcity of land and spaces have led them to expand their island through land reclamations. The materials needed for reclamation, sands and granites, are mostly imported from Indonesia. The quarry of sands from Indonesian territories has raised concern over environmental issues.[14]
In June 2013, Singapore suffered from the haze coming from slash-and-burn practice to clear plantation lands in neighboring countries Riau, Sumatra, and Indonesia. The June 2013 haze hit the worst record, reaching the highest haze pollutant levels since 1997. The haze prompted a health alert from the Singaporean government, angered Singaporean citizens, and also caused some diplomatic tension as the Singaporean government protested Indonesia's tardiness at handling the issue and urged the Indonesian government to look for effective measures to mitigate the transboundary haze pollution occurrence.[16]
In addition, there has also been differences between both countries on the administration of the Riau Islands Flight Information Region (FIR). Singapore has generally claimed that it controls the FIR based on an arrangement made by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and that it is a matter of aviation safety and efficiency.[17][18] However, some past and present Indonesian officials have argued against Singapore's right to do so, and reasoned that the FIR is a critical determinant of Indonesia's air sovereignty and defense.[19]
In January 2022, the 5th Singapore–Indonesia Leader's Retreat held at Sanchaya Resort in Bintan[20] saw the signing of three agreements addressing bilateral issues of FIR, defence cooperation, and extradition of fugitives, that are important to both sides. Under the agreement on airspace management, Singapore and Indonesia have agreed to realign the boundary between Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and Singapore FIR. Indonesia will delegate to Singapore the provision of air navigation services in portions of the airspace within the realigned Jakarta FIR. This agreement will remain in force for 25 years and can be extended by mutual consent. Under the Defence Cooperation Agreement, Singapore and Indonesia will continue to strengthen defence partnerships and deepen cooperation in mutually beneficial areas. The agreement will be in force for 25 years. Under the Extradition Treaty, Singapore and Indonesia will grant extradition for a comprehensive list of extraditable offences covered by the treaty. The signing of agreements is seen to be a win-win outcome for both countries.[21]
Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with 189 UN member states. The three exceptions are the Central African Republic, Monaco and South Sudan.
The Riau Islands is a province of Indonesia - not to be confused with neighbouring Riau Province from which the islands were separated in 2002. The capital of the province is Tanjung Pinang and the largest city is Batam. It shares a maritime border with Riau and Jambi to the east, Bangka Belitung Islands to the south, Singapore to the northeast, Malaysia and West Kalimantan to the west, and Vietnam and Cambodia to the north. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping lanes along the Malacca Strait and the Natuna Sea, the province shares water borders with neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. The Riau Islands also have relatively large potential mineral resources and energy, as well as marine resources.
Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. Indonesia was ranked at 20th in the world tourist Industry in 2017, also ranked as the ninth-fastest growing tourist sector in the world, the third-fastest growing in Asia and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. In 2018, Denpasar, Jakarta and Batam are among of 10 cities in the world with fastest growth in tourism, 32.7, 29.2 and 23.3 percent respectively. The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.
Batam is the largest city in the province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam, Rempang, and Galang, as well as Bulang to the west and several small islands. Batam Island is the core urban and industrial zone, while both Rempang Island and Galang Island maintain their rural character and low-density population; they are connected to Batam Island by short bridges. Bulang Island and the islands to its north forming Belakang Padang District lie to the west of Batam Island but are also administratively within the city. Batam is an industrial boomtown, an emerging transport hub, and part of a free trade zone in the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle, located 20 km (12 mi) off Singapore's south coast.
Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
Great Karimun, also known as Mawas Island, is one of the islands in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia, administratively part of Karimun Regency. It lies about 37 km southwest of Singapore, 54 km west of Batam, 24 km northeast of Rangsang Island and 32 km north of Kundur Island.
The Sijori was established in 1994 between three countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to strengthen economic links in the region and optimise the complementarity between the three countries. It started off as the SIJORI Growth Triangle in 1989, which includes Singapore, Johor, and a part of Riau Islands Province, specifically the Riau Archipelago.
The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution is a legally binding environmental agreement signed in 2002 by the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia. The Agreement recognises that transboundary haze pollution which results from land and/or forest fires should be mitigated through concerted national efforts and international co-operation.
Tanjungpinang, also colloquially written as Tanjung Pinang, is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. It covers a land area of 144.56 km2, mainly on the southern Bintan Island, as well as other smaller islands such as Dompak Island and Penyengat Island. With a population of 227,663 at the 2020 Census, it is the second largest city of the province, after Batam; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 239,854. Tanjungpinang is a historic city of the Malay culture, having served as the capital of both Johor Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate.
Bintan Regency is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island and also includes many outlying islands including the Tambelan Archipelago and Badas Islands situated between Bintan and West Kalimantan.
The Indonesia–Singapore border is a maritime boundary in the Straits of Singapore between Indonesia's Riau Islands which lie to the south of the border, and the islands of Singapore which lie to the north. The Straits of Singapore is one of the region's busiest waterways as it is the main channel for Singapore's ports.
Philippines–Singapore relations are bilateral relations between the Philippines and Singapore. The Philippines has an embassy in Singapore. Singapore likewise, has an embassy in Manila. Full diplomatic relations commenced on May 16, 1969, when the Philippine consulate-general in Singapore was raised to embassy level.
Indonesia and Malaysia established diplomatic relations in 1957. It is one of the most important bilateral relationships in Southeast Asia.
The Singapore Strait crossing is a proposed tunnel, bridge or combination of the two spanning the Singapore Strait and linking Singapore with the Riau archipelago of Indonesia, most likely with the island of Batam. In the early 1990s the Riau Islands experienced a major economic boom in response to the development of an industrial estate on Batam, located 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Singapore. Singapore and Batam currently are connected only by ferry service.
The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.
The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
The Riau Islands Flight Information Region is a proposed Flight Information Region (FIR) situated above the Riau Islands, which is a province of Indonesia comprising the principal group of the Riau Archipelago along with other island groups to the south, east and northeast. It is currently part of the Singapore FIR under the administration of the Singapore civil aviation authorities as a result of an arrangement by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 1946.
The borders of Indonesia include land and maritime borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor, as well as shared maritime boundaries with Australia, India, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Batam-Bintan Bridge, also known as the Babin Bridge is a proposed series of cable-stayed bridges crossing the Riau Strait between the islands of Batam and Bintan in the Riau Islands of Indonesia, near Singapore. The cost is estimated at 13.66 trillion rupiah, which is planned to be provided under a joint government-enterprises financing scheme. As of 2023, soil investigation is in progress but construction work has not commenced.
The Malaysian chicken export ban was announced on 23 May 2022 by Malaysian prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, restricting the export of 3.6 million chickens a month overseas until the domestic supply and price surge stabilises. Malaysia exported poultry meat worth US$18.9 million in 2020, making it the 49th largest exporter of the product in the world. The imposition of the ban comes amidst surging chicken prices due to a chicken shortage and rising prices for the domestic market.
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