A History Has Just Been Inscribed By Ambassador Fientje Maritje

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand and concurrently Samoa, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Cook Islands and Niue, Fientje Maritje Suebu has just made history. He became the first Indonesian ambassador to visit the Cook Islands.

"When I set foot in Rarotonga, in the midst of the beauty of the Cook Islands, I felt so many similarities between Indonesia and the Cook Islands ... beautiful scenery, friendly people, amazing culture and many other things," said Fientje as quoted in information from the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington received in Jakarta, Thursday 12 May.

During the historic visit, Fientje handed over a letter of credentials from President Joko Widodo to the Deputy Queen for the Cook Islands, Sir Tom Masters, in Rarotonga.

"We are indeed one big Pacific family," Fientje told Masters.

Deputy Queen is the official title given to Queen Elizabeth II's deputy, as Queen of New Zealand, in the Cook Islands.

During the visit, Fientje also met with Prime Minister Mark Brown, Minister for Tourism and Economy Patrick Arioka, Parliament Speaker Tai Tura, and other high-ranking officials.

She conveyed the mandate given by the President of the Republic of Indonesia to further increase Indonesia's presence as part of the Pacific region and strengthen bilateral relations with the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands is a country in the South Pacific that has a special free association relationship with New Zealand.

The special constitutional relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is set out in the Joint Centenary Declaration (JCD) signed on 11 June 2001.

Bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Cook Islands were initiated in July 2019.

The opening of the bilateral relationship was carried out on the sidelines of Indonesia's major event in the Pacific, the 2019 Pacific Expositions, in New Zealand.

At that time, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi opened official diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands with the prime minister and foreign minister of the Cook Islands, Henry Puna, through the signing of a joint communique.

The Cook Islands are also participating in the second Pacific Exposition which will take place on October 27-30, 2021.