25 years of Dutch-Indonesian water cooperation

In 2001, four high-level government officials from Indonesia and the Netherlands gathered to sign the first bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Water. At that pivotal moment, Indonesia was facing pressing water-related challenges: widespread pollution, limited access to clean drinking water, frequent flooding and drought, and outdated infrastructure.

These issues threatened not only local water security but also the country’s food sovereignty and economic resilience. Through the MoU, both governments committed to work together on Indonesia’s water priorities and generate knowledge relevant to Dutch and Indonesian water challenges. More than a technical agreement, this MoU signified a shift towards equal diplomatic relations and mutual knowledge exchange. It laid the foundation for a decades-long partnership between the two nations.

The Dutch Water Sector in Indonesia

The current MoU on Water (2022 – 2027) serves as an umbrella for all Dutch co-funded bilateral water-related activities. It enables the Dutch water sector to contribute to Indonesia’s development priorities by applying its internationally recognised expertise and decades of experience in water infrastructure and management. Within this framework, the Partners for Water programme facilitates coordination, fosters collaboration, and connects actors in the Dutch water sector with relevant Indonesian counterparts. A high-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC), co-chaired by the Indonesian Secretary-General of Public Works and the Dutch Director-General for Water and Soil at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, provides strategic guidance and meets annually. Dutch participation is facilitated via tenders, sector meetings and expert contributions to the JSC. Central to this engagement is building long-term relationships through knowledge exchange, capacity development and youth engagement.

Three Priorities

Within the bilateral cooperation, a strategic and programme-based approach is adopted to maximise effectiveness and impact. This approach centres on three priority themes, each supported by a dedicated working group and overseen by the JSC. The three themes are:

• Integrated Water Resilience in North Java
• Lowland Development for Irrigation
• Sharing Knowledge, Building Capacity, and Involving Youth

Integrated Water Resilience in North Java

Java’s northern coast is Indonesia’s economic and agricultural core, but it faces growing water challenges due to urbanisation, industry, and climate change. These pressures affect water availability and quality, while also increasing risks like land subsidence and flooding.

In response, the Indonesian government seeks integrated, future-proof solutions. Through the bilateral cooperation, Dutch and Indonesian partners are building water resilience by combining Nature-based Solutions with smart data technologies. This is done through collaboration with local stakeholders and capacity building, ensuring environmental and social values are embedded in each water solution.

The Netherlands contributes decades of experience in flood resilience, hydro-informatics, and coastal management to the collaboration. Along the North Java coastline, joint projects have developed practical, sustainable solutions – often in partnership with local actors and international organisations such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and Invest International. For the Dutch water sector, opportunities remain strong to support investments, offer innovative solutions, and engage in knowledge exchange.

Integrated Water Resilience in Semarang

In the city of Semarang, the Indonesian and Dutch water sectors collaborate on integrated solutions for land subsidence, flooding and water scarcity. Combining Nature-based Solutions with conventional infrastructure, the project demonstrates climate-resilient interventions that protect both people and ecosystems. Building upon the Water as Leverage programme, the project collaborates with local communities and authorities, and Dutch and Indonesian experts. It focuses on long-term spatial planning towards a climate-resilient Semarang by 2045 and illustrates how co-creation and inclusive design are key to integrated water resilience in North Java. Partners include One Architecture, Arcadis, Diponegoro University (UNDIP), PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of National Development Planning, the City of Semarang and Central Java Province.

Lowland Development for Irrigation

The vast lowlands and peatlands of Indonesia are essential to the country’s agricultural productivity and food sovereignty ambitions. However, these areas face complex water management challenges including flooding, acid sulphate soils, low fertility, and saline intrusion. Where peatlands have been drained for agriculture, challenges are compounded by land subsidence, fires, and carbon emissions, threatening productivity and ecological stability. Increasing lowland food productivity is a government priority. Therefore, Indonesia is implementing comprehensive rehabilitation strategies for tidal and non-tidal lowland areas through participatory irrigation management systems built on five pillars: water supply reliability, infrastructure development, effective irrigation management, institutional frameworks, and human resource capacity.

The Netherlands and Indonesia have built a valuable partnership in lowland development and irrigation since the first MoU signing. This collaboration, mainly focused in South Sumatra and Kalimantan, has developed expertise in data collection, mapping, governance, and technical innovations. Currently, the collaboration focuses on enhancing productivity through improved water management in existing lowland areas. It offers the Dutch water sector opportunities to exchange knowledge and expertise, particularly through intergenerational knowledge transfer, and to provide monitoring and technical support for water management and infrastructure solutions.

Dadahup

In the degraded polder area of Dadahup, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian and Dutch experts have been working together since 2021 to rehabilitate 25,000 hectares of lowland agricultural land. The project began with a request from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing for a second opinion on water management and flood protection. Dutch expertise has supported the development of practical solutions tailored to the local context, such as a simplified system for dry and rainy seasons. The current phase focuses on human resource development through hands-on training and knowledge transfer. Partners include IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, The Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), the Netherlands Enterprise and Development Agency (RVO) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

Sharing Knowledge, Building Capacity, and Involving Youth

The Dutch-Indonesian water partnership recognises that effective water management relies on long-term investment in people. Knowledge transfer is therefore a fundamental, cross-cutting pillar of the bilateral cooperation. This theme supports the work of the other working groups by ensuring continuity and future relevance through youth engagement and capacity building. A joint knowledge exchange programme is being implemented. This programme includes initiatives like the Dutch Training and Exchange Programme (DUTEP), Wave Indonesia, webinars with local institutions, and youth-oriented activities such as hackathons and field visits. Additionally, high-level events and missions highlight the partnership and foster connections between Dutch and Indonesian stakeholders.

Particular emphasis is placed on intergenerational exchange, enabling senior experts to pass on insights to the next generation of water professionals. For the Dutch water sector, this theme offers valuable opportunities to contribute by strategically leveraging the diverse networks built over years of partnership, and by embedding these exchanges into the formal MoU collaboration. This ensures that they are not isolated but connected and mutually reinforcing.

The Welang Watershed

The Welang Watershed project in East Java demonstrates integrated, community-driven water management through upstream conservation and downstream flood mitigation. Solutions are co-created with local communities, authorities and experts to ensure relevance and long-term impact. The project strengthens capacity by embedding knowledge exchange between Indonesian and Dutch partners, fostering local ownership and engaging with schools to raise youth awareness on waste and river health. Led by Witteveen+Bos, Nuffic Southeast Asia and AidEnvironment, the project facilitates collaborative knowledge exchange, capacity building and youth engagement.

Looking Ahead

After over 25 years of fruitful collaboration – marked by diverse and impactful initiatives, strong partnerships, and lifelong professional friendships – the bilateral water cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands is in full swing. Looking two decades ahead, Indonesia aspires to become a resilient, high-income society and the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2045. Achieving this ambition will require addressing its urgent water challenges, opening up new opportunities to exchange innovative, inclusive and sustainable solutions with the Dutch water sector.

The joint ambition is to strengthen mutual trust, secure future cooperation and ensure the Dutch water sector remains a relevant and valued partner for Indonesia. In the coming years, the bilateral cooperation will continue to focus on the current three key areas. Actors in the broader Dutch water sector – from knowledge institutions and NGOs to companies and government bodies – are invited to engage in this cooperation. They can do so by applying for tenders, making use of the Partners for Water subsidy for innovative water solutions, or joining one of the many webinars, information sessions and networking events hosted by Partners for Water.