Energy Diplomacy: Proposed Strategic Roles For State-Owned Enterprises

Natural resources endowment has always been a critical factor in supporting a country‟s development, particularly in the early stage, where firm productivity in industry and service sectors are still low. Such is the case with Indonesia, one of the largest oil-producing countries in the East Asia region, where the oil boom period in the 1970s has been able to fund many development projects. Although oil resource is waning over the last decade, the country is still among the largest producer in the Southeast Asian region, with an also growing demand for the burgeoning industry. This unique role should be able to strengthen Indonesia‟s position at the international level. That is why through this article, we try to propose a better picture of what could be done by scholars to help in formulating Indonesia‟s energy diplomacy. The purpose of this article is to have a look the role of Pertamina, a State-Owned Enterprise, in supporting international diplomacy while also executing their role in strengthening national energy security. Taking examples from other influential oil-seeking countries such as Japan and China and also from oil-producing „petrodollar‟ country such as Saudi Arabia, then Pertamina should actively engage in promoting development in targetted countries and maintaining bilateral ties. The conclusion of this research article is strong correlations between energy, diplomacy, and development assistance among those countries. Those nexuses will help Indonesia in exercising its “free and active” diplomatic stance in resolving various international issues such as the Freedom of Palestine and The Rohingya issue in Myanmar.