Jakarta, Indonesia, September 25, 2025: The National Olympic Committee of Indonesia strengthened its sports diplomacy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Olympic Committee of Japan in Tokyo, last week.
This marks the first strategic partnership undertaken since Seiko Hashimoto became the new President of NOC of Japan.
President of NOC of Indonesia, Raja Sapta Oktohari, emphasised that the agreement reflects Indonesia’s unwavering commitment to continuous sports diplomacy.
“Japan and Indonesia have enjoyed strong diplomatic and economic cooperation for more than two decades. Sports diplomacy is just an extension of this goodwill between our nations and people,” said Okto, as he is fondly known.
Okto explained that the cooperation between the two NOCs includes the Olympic Movement, athlete and coach exchanges, anti-doping collaboration, and the development of specific sports, including Pencak Silat in Japan. Indonesia also stands ready to help Japan expand the martial art through various programmes under the partnership.
“Japan has consistently been among the global leaders, as reflected in their medal tally across international multi-sport events. We want to learn how to strengthen and expand our capabilities in as many sports as possible, within realistic timelines, for both the Summer and Winter Olympics,” Okto affirmed.
NOC Japan President Seiko Hashimoto, welcoming the initiative, stressed Japan will give special attention to Pencak Silat, including conducting research to assess the martial art’s current development and community presence in Japan.
“We see tremendous potential in Pencak Silat as Indonesia’s traditional sport, one that can enrich the diversity of disciplines in Japan. We will conduct further research to understand its ecosystem here, while exploring the best model of cooperation for its development,” Hashimoto noted.
Beyond Pencak Silat, Hashimoto underlined that the cooperation between the two NOCs is equally important in areas such as sport science, sport medicine, sport tourism, and sports infrastructure development.