Tag Archives: Indonesia

Indonesia’s Parliament Approves $32 Billion New Capital Nusantara in East Kalimantan

February 11, 2022 By in Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

 

The new US Embassy in Jakarata, Indonesia was completed in 2019. It was constructed by B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama and designed by Davis Brody Bond Architects and Planners from New York. The $302 million design/build contract, awarded through best value determination was first announced in November 2012  by State/OBO.
“New diplomatic facilities totaling 47,000 square meters will be constructed on the existing embassy complex. The embassy is located in the historic center of Jakarta, surrounded by national government offices. When completed, the project will provide state-of-the-art workspace for approximately 1,300 embassy employees. The new complex will include a 10-story tower for consular and office space, with an attached residence for Marine security guards, as well as a multi-story parking garage.”
Last month, Indonesia’s Parliament approved the plan to moved its capital city from Jakarta to the island of Borneo; to be located in the East Kalimantan province. The new capital would be 1300 miles away from the current seat of government. The new capital Nusantara, which means “archipelago is to be built in stages through 2045. It will reportedly cover 2560 km2, about twice the area of New York City.
The United States will need a new embassy in Nusantara.

Travels With the Pompeos and the Espers: Who Invited the Spouses?

October 27, 2020 By in Defense Department, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Spouses, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

 

Confirmations: Ambassadors to Indonesia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Jordan, Guatemala, Estonia, USUN, OPCW, FS Lists, More

August 10, 2020 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Foreign Assistance, Foreign Service, FSOs, international organizations, Political Appointees, State Department, U.S. Missions, U.S. Senate, UN, USAID Tags: , , , , , ,
The following nominations were confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 6, 2020:

2020-08-06 PN967 INDONESIA | Sung Y. Kim, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Indonesia.

2020-08-06 PN1035 UGANDA |  Natalie E. Brown, of Nebraska, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Uganda.

2020-08-06 PN1045 BURKINA FASO |  Sandra E. Clark, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Burkina Faso.

2020-08-06 PN1281 JORDAN | Henry T. Wooster, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

2020-08-06 PN1941 GUATEMALA |  William W. Popp, of Missouri, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Guatemala.

2020-08-06 PN1426 ESTONIA | William Ellison Grayson, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Estonia.

2020-08-06 PN1339 USUN | Richard M. Mills, Jr., of Texas, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, during his tenure of service as Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations.

2020-08-06 PN1340  USUN | Richard M. Mills, Jr., of Texas, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be the Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and the Deputy Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations.

2020-08-06 PN1229 Department of State/OPCW | Joseph Manso, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as United States Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

 

USAID

020-08-06 PN1337 United States Agency for International Development | Ramsey Coats Day, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

2020-08-06 PN1427 United States Agency for International Development | Jenny A. McGee, of Texas, to be an Associate Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

2020-08-06 PN1296 Asian Development Bank | Jason Myung-lk Chung, of Virginia, to be United States Director of the Asian Development Bank, with the rank of Ambassador.

2020-08-06 PN1280 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development |J. Steven Dowd, of Florida, to be United States Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

 

FOREIGN SERVICE S LISTS

2020-08-06 PN2067 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Shefali Agrawal, and ending Michael B. Schooling, which 101 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2068 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Anna Mae G. Akers, and ending Ismat Mohammad G. Omar Yassin, which 214 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2069 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Jonathan Paul Ackley, and ending Amanda B. Whatley, which 43 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2070 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Jeffrey Thomas Albanese, and ending Katherine Rose Woody, which 11 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2071 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Erin Elizabeth McKee, and ending Dana Rogstad Mansuri, which 5 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2072 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Lawrence J. Sacks, and ending Bruce F. McFarland, which 27 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-08-06 PN2073 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Deanna Scott, and ending Christopher Walker, which 3 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 29, 2020.

2020-06-10 PN1704-1 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Michael J. Adler, and ending Ivan A. Wray, which 206 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on March 16, 2020.

Pompeo Reads the Data Set Every Morning But Can’t Get @StateDept COVID-19 Casualty Details Right

April 1, 2020 By in Coronavirus, Huh? News, Leadership and Management, MEDical, Mike Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Spectacular, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

 

On March 30, the number two official respectively from the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Bureau of Medical Services held another joint Briefing on Updates On Health Impact and Assistance For American Citizens Abroad. When asked, “Are you aware of any deaths among the State Department staff due to coronavirus?”, MED’s Dr. William Walters responded:

So the department is aware of two locally employed staff – I don’t have locations and wouldn’t be able to provide further details – that have died overseas in their own country related to coronavirus.  I don’t have any further details that I can pass on.  There have been no deaths domestically or with any U.S. direct hires.  

Fast forward March 31, the Secretary Pompeo made remarks to the press, excerpt:

And lastly, you asked a question about disinformation in the moment here with the COVID-19 challenge.  I see it every day.  Every morning I get up and I read the data set from across the world, not only the tragedy that’s taking place here.  We’ve had a State Department official pass away as a result of this virus, one of our team members.  We now have 3,000 Americans who have been killed.  This is tragic.  My prayers go out to every American and every American family impacted by this.

This data set matters.  The ability to trust the data that you’re getting so that our scientists and doctors and experts at the World Health Organization and all across the world who are trying to figure out how to remediate this, how to find therapies, how to find – identify a solution which will ultimately be a vaccine, to determine whether the actions that we’re taking – the social distancing, all the things that we’re doing, limiting transportation, all those things we’re doing –  to figure out if they’re working so that we can save lives depends on the ability to have confidence and information about what has actually transpired.

This is the reason disinformation is dangerous.  It’s not because it’s bad politics.  It is because it puts lives at risk if we don’t have confidence in the information that’s coming from every country.  So I would urge every nation:  Do your best to collect the data.  Do your best to share that information.  We’re doing that.  We’re collecting, we’re sharing, and we’re making sure that we have good, sound basis upon which to make decisions about how to fight this infectious disease.  That’s the risk that comes when countries choose to engage in campaigns of disinformation across the world.

That made news, of course, but subsequently corrected, because as it turned out —  it was not accurate.
By afternoon, the State Department clarified that there were two employees killed by COVID-19, as revealed in the March 30 briefing. Both were local employees, one from Indonesia (on our list but until now unconfirmed), and another from Democratic Republic of Congo (we previously asked post and FSI about one DRC case, but both were mum as a clam in mud at low tide).
So the secretary of state told everyone at the briefing that “data set matters” and that every morning, he reads the data set from across the world.  Then he talked about one State Department official’s death — “one of our team members” — when THERE WASN’T ONE, and failed to mention during the briefing the death of TWO local employees from COVID-19, non-U.S. citizen members of the State Department family.
Uppercase voice used since he could not even get the casualty details right.
At the end of this story, Pompeo in a belated statement, cited the two local staffers from Jakarta and Kinshasa who died from COVID-19 and expressed “deepest sympathies and condolences.”

US Mission Indonesia Now on Ordered Departure For All Family Members Under 21

March 26, 2020 By in Americans Abroad, Coronavirus, Evacuations, MEDical, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

 

On March 26, the State Department issued a new Travel Advisory for Indonesia, a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory “due to the Global Health Advisory and Embassy Jakarta’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens.
It also announced the mandatory evacuation of all family members under 21 for US Mission Indonesia, including the US mission to ASEAN:

On March 25, the Department of State allowed for the Ordered Departure of all eligible family members (EFMs) under age 21 from Embassy Jakarta, Consulates Medan and Surabaya, and the U.S. Mission to ASEAN.

Commercial flight options may become limited, as well as decreased medical evacuation options from Indonesia. Indonesia’s health system has limited capacity to test for the virus causing COVID-19. Travelers should consider these factors and their health before traveling to Indonesia and follow the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines for the prevention of coronavirus if they decide to travel.

Read the full advisory here.
Post’s March 20 Health Alert notes : “We understand that Indonesia’s health system has limited capacity to test for COVID-19 and to manage treatment of persons with COVID-19.[…] The government of Indonesia has implemented enhanced screening and quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. As of March 20, 2020, Indonesia has suspended entry for foreigners using visa exemption and visa on arrival.
Post’s March 17 Health Alert said, “The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Consulate General in Surabaya, and Consular Agency in Bali have implemented social distancing measures but remain open for Consular Services.” On March 20, it said, “The U.S. Mission in Indonesia has suspended routine consular services.”

@StateDept Dedicates the New U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia @usembassyjkt

March 20, 2019 By in Ambassadors, EAP|East Asia, Functional Bureaus, New Embassy, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

Via State Department: 03/19/19 The Department of State Dedicates the New U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia

As a display of our enduring friendship and important partnerships with Indonesia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan Jr., Chargé d’affaires for the U.S. Mission to ASEAN Jane Bocklage, and Director of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Addison D. “Tad” Davis IV, along with Indonesian Government officials, dedicated the new U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia today.

The new complex provides a secure, modern, sustainable, and resilient platform for U.S. diplomacy in Indonesia and the ASEAN region.

Davis Brody Bond Architects and Planners of New York, New York is the design architect for the project and Page of Washington, D.C. is the architect of record. B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama constructed the facility.

Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, OBO has completed 154 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 49 projects in design or under construction.

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Ambassador Donovan notes that “This celebration comes at a very opportune time, as this year we are also celebrating 70 years of diplomatic ties between the United States and Indonesia. The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Indonesia’s independence, establishing our first embassy on December 28, 1949. When President Truman appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, H. Merle Cochran, he reaffirmed U.S. support welcoming Indonesia into the “community of free nations.”

He added that architects and designers took into consideration Jakarta’s climate and that the building uses the latest in environmental sustainability features that reduces energy consumption. The covered walkways are topped with solar panels  and the exterior metal sunshades limit sun exposure and reduce the demand for air conditioning. The building’s design reportedly also incorporates water conservation strategies to irrigate the green landscaped areas by collecting and re-using storm run-off.

The primary building is finished but the State Department is also constructing a heritage building on the site used by a Republic of Indonesia delegation during negotiations for Indonesia’s independence with the Dutch in 1949. It is estimated that the completion of that building as well as a consular pavilion will occur by the end of 2019.

Related post:

Senate Confirmations: Bitter, Kim, Young, Symington, Donovan

September 29, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Foreign Service, FSOs, Nominations, Obama, Realities of the FS, Senators, SFRC, Staffing the FS, State Department, Top Ranks, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 1:38 am ET
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The U.S. Senate confirmed the following ambassador nominations on Wednesday, September 28. Five nominations included in SFRC’s business meeting on September 27 did not make it to the full Senate vote (see bottom list).  About 17 other ambassador nominations and FS lists are currently pending in committee and do not have scheduled hearings as of this writing.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Executive Calendar #728
Rena Bitter – to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Executive Calendar #729
Sung Y. Kim – to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of the Philippines

Executive Calendar #730
Andrew Robert Young – to be Ambassador of the United States of America to Burkina Faso

Executive Calendar #731
W. Stuart Symington – to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Executive Calendar #732
Joseph R. Donovan Jr. – to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Indonesia

 

UNITED NATIONS

Executive Calendar #733
Christopher Coons – to be Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-first Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Executive Calendar #734
Ronald H. Johnson – to be Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-first Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

 

Waiting for full Senate vote:

The following nomination and FS lists were in the agenda of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but appear not to make it through the full Senate vote. Note that the hyperlinked lists are those posted in the Senate’s Executive Calendar.

Ms. Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, of Connecticut, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Malaysia

Jorge A. Abudei, et al., dated September 6, 2016 (PN 1704), as amended — (PN1704-2)

John Robert Adams, et al., dated September 6, 2016 (PN 1705) – (PN1705)

Jennisa Paredes, et al., dated July 13, 2016 (PN 1643), as amended — (PN1643-2)

Diana Isabel Acosta, et al., dated July 13, 2016 (PN 1642), as amended — (PN1642-2)

 

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Officially In: Joseph R. Donovan, Jr. — From AIT/DC to the Republic of Indonesia

July 14, 2016 By in EAP|East Asia, Foreign Service, FSOs, Nominations, Obama, Officially In Tags: , , ,

Posted: 3:02 am ET
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On July 13, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Joseph R. Donovan, Jr., to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia. The WH released the following brief bio:

Joseph R. Donovan Jr., a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is Managing Director of the Washington Office of the American Institute in Taiwan, a position he has held since 2014. Previously, Mr. Donovan served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon from 2012 to 2014, Associate Professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. from 2011 to 2012, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State from 2009 to 2011. He was the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong from 2008 to 2009, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan from 2005 to 2008, and Director of the Department of State’s Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs from 2003 to 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Donovan was Political Section Chief at the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan from 2000 to 2003 and Political/Military Unit Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan from 1997 to 2000.Earlier assignments in the Foreign Service include posts in Taiwan, China, South Korea and Qatar.Before joining the Foreign Service, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Seoul, South Korea.

Mr. Donovan received a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an M.A. from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Joseph Donovan, the Managing Director of AIT’s Washington office, met with President Ma Ying-jeou at the Presidential Office on February 10, 2015. (Photo by AIT/Flickr)

Joseph Donovan, the Managing Director of AIT’s Washington office, met with President Ma Ying-jeou at the Presidential Office on February 10, 2015. (Photo by AIT/Flickr)

If confirmed, Mr. Donovan would succeed career diplomat, Robert O. Blake, Jr. who was appointed ambassador to Jakarta on July 30, 2013.

 

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Ambassador Robert Blake Visits North Maluku and Papua (Photos)

March 17, 2016 By in Ambassadors, EAP|East Asia, Foreign Service, FSOs, Photo of the Day, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 12:42 am EDT
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The U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert O. Blake visited Papua and the North Maluku early this year with stops in Ternate, Manokwari, Nabire and Jayapura.

We saw the photos and we recognize that this is Indonesia but have to idea where exactly these places are located. According to Wikipedia:  The Maluku Islands formed a single province since Indonesian independence until 1999, when it was split into two provinces. A new province, North Maluku, incorporates the area between Morotai and Sula, with the arc of islands from Buru and Seram to Wetar remaining within the existing Maluku Province. North Maluku is predominantly Muslim and its capital is Sofifi on Halmahera island. Maluku province has a larger Christian population and its capital is Ambon.  Between 1999 and 2002, conflict between Muslims and Christians killed thousands and displaced half a million people.

On the first leg of his trip Ambassador Blake visited with local officials on the island of Ternate where he toured the city’s port and visited a local tuna processing plant. Hey, that tuna is almost as big as the guy holding it!  All photos via US Embassy Jakarta/Flickr:

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Here are some more photos from the rest of that trip.

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US Embassy Jakarta: Shelter In Place On After Explosions Rock Indonesia’s Capital

January 14, 2016 By in Americans Abroad, Consular Work, EAP|East Asia, Foreign Service, Realities of the FS, Security, Social Media, Terrorism, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , ,

Posted: 2:20 am EDT
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