doen

After a wonderful stay in Jakarta of more than four years, Croatian Ambassador to Indonesia Aleksandar Broz and his wife Mira Broz left the country last week with unforgettable memories.

"We had a wonderful stay in Jakarta. We will never forget our friends, both Indonesians and expatriates, and experiences in Indonesia," Ambassador Broz told The Jakarta Post in an interview last week at his office in Jakarta.

In 2004, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic appointed Broz as Croatia's ambassador to Indonesia, with the special intention of reviving ties between Croatia, a former republic in the Yugoslav Federation, and Indonesia.

Broz is none other than the son of Yugoslavia's late second president, Josip Broz Tito. The Indonesian president at the time of Broz's appointment was Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of former Indonesian president Sukarno. Both Tito and Sukarno were founders of the Non-Aligned Movement.

While commenting on the state of bilateral relations during the last four years, Broz said they were in good shape.

"Our relations with Indonesia are very good. But we should have done more to enhance economic relations, despite obstacles like the geographical distance between the two countries," Broz said.

Though small in value, bilateral trade during Broz's period has grown considerably.

In 2007, the two-way trade value surged to US$29.45 million, a huge jump from a mere $8.85 million in 2003. Last year, growth also continued to increase.

In the first 10 months of 2008, bilateral trade jumped to $33.78 million, a 48.29 percent increase from $22.78 million during the same period in 2007.

"We import a lot of coal from Indonesia to run one of our coal-fired power plants. But our exports to Indonesia, mainly animal husbandry vaccines, machinery and chemical products, are in small quantities," Broz said.

Croatia, the ambassador went on, was a small country with a population of 4.5 million people, far removed from Indonesia. These were the main hurdles in improving trade ties, he said.

"But both countries have still a lot of opportunities. For instance, we can cooperate in the shipbuilding and tourism sectors," Broz said.

Although he did not travel much in Indonesia, Broz enjoyed his stay here.

"For me, Indonesia and Jakarta are not new. Before my arrival here, I used to come to Jakarta frequently in my capacity as Croatia's INA Oil company representative in the 1980s and 1990s," he said.

After obtaining a law degree from Zagreb University in 1969, Broz began his career in the Prvomajska Co.'s export department. He later joined the INA Oil company.

In 1993, Broz joined the foreign service and was appointed minister counselor at the Croatian Embassy in Moscow. From Moscow, he moved to Cairo in his capacity as plenipotentiary minister.

It seems Broz was on the fast track in his diplomatic career. With just 11 years of diplomatic experience, Broz was appointed as ambassador in 2004.

"It was my first posting as an ambassador in Jakarta," said Broz, who speaks more than six foreign languages.

During his nearly five-year stay in Indonesia, Broz revealed he and his wife had some good and bad experiences.

"First, we have seen two Indonesian presidents *Megawati and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono*. We are so lucky to witness the democratic transformation in the country. At the same time, we also witnessed all these natural disasters like tsunami, earthquakes and floods," he said.

There was also an incident last year that they will never forget their whole lives.

"Last year, there was a robbery at my home. Luckily, my wife and I were safe. We lost some money and valuables. But we didn't have any hard feelings about it, because this can happen anywhere in the world," said Broz, a computer expert.

When asked about the future of both countries' relations, Broz said they would grow further.

"Both countries can take their relations to a higher level. We will have our first ever joint commission meeting in Zagreb this year to lay the groundwork for our future ties," Broz said.

Posted by doen at 8:16 PM