Andre Omer Siregar

Andre Omer Siregar was born on 1 July 1974 into a diplomatic family; his parents were also Indonesian diplomats who had been serving since the 1960s. His father, Ibnu Ash Djamil Siregar, was a senior diplomat who served as Indonesia's ambassador to Yemen from 1996 to 2000. Siregar is also the grand-nephew of the diplomat and former vice president Adam Malik.^[1]

As a result of his father's assignments, he grew up living in various places, including London, UK, Sydney, Australia, Wellington, New Zealand, and Sanaa, Yemen. Siregar completed a bachelor's degree in economics at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand in 1994. Though he initially intended to work in the private sector and rejected following his father's career path, he later pursued further studies, earning a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1996 and a Master’s in Diplomacy and Trade (MDT) in 2000, both from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. As of 2022, he is also working on a PhD in research on Indonesia’s global maritime fulcrum and diplomacy on Indo Pacific at the Law School at Charles Darwin University, Australia.^[2]

Siregar's professional career began in the private sector at Procter & Gamble Indonesia, where he worked in marketing for Rejoice shampoo. Motivated by the fall of Suharto in May 1998, he decided to dedicate himself to government service and quietly applied to the foreign ministry, which shocked his father. Despite his economics background, his written essay, which suggested a foreign policy for escaping the 1998 Asian economic crisis based on macro and microeconomic theory, impressed the foreign ministry's secretary general Abdul Irsan. Once accepted, he began his diplomatic career on the same year.^[2]

His first diplomatic task was in 1999 when he was assigned to East Timor as an observer in the popular consultation process,^[3] during which he began his work as an interpreter for the UN court hearings, translating two-way conversations for many hours. This interpreting role defined his path for the next fifteen years. From January 2004 to January 2008, Siregar was assigned to the Indonesian Permanent Mission in New York, where he was involved in ECOSOC, the 2nd and 3rd Committees of the UN General Assembly, and the UN Security Council, addressing agendas such as Rwanda and the DR Congo. He also handled issues such as the such as the Bali Process on People Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons in 2002, humanitarian assistance in the UN General Assembly for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Resolution from 2004 to 2007. Siregar was then assigned to Washington, D.C., and returned to Indonesia in 2008.^[2][3]

His skills were further recognized when he stepped in as a replacement interpreter for President Megawati Soekarnoputri during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard regarding Australia's involvement in Iraq. His performance was well-received by senior officials, including the Foreign Minister and then-Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). Siregar subsequently served as a key interpreter in bilateral meetings for both President Megawati and President SBY, becoming the full-time interpreter for President SBY on 20 January 2011, a role he held for a total of ten years. In this capacity, he interpreted for SBY in discussions with world leaders, including U.S. presidents George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama, and other heads of state and government at international forums such as the G20, APEC, ASEAN, and UN Summits.^[1] In 2013, he also served on the review team for humanitarian assistance in Aceh with the President's Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight.^[3]

In late 2014, Andre was appointed as consul to Darwin, making him the youngest Indonesian consular chief in Australia at the age of forty. His consular responsibility encompasses Australia's Northern Territory. Andre arrived on 18 December 2014 and made his maiden appearance at the 40th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy. As consul, Andre emphasized the critical diplomatic importance of Darwin due to its proximity to Indonesia’s eastern border regions and successfully presented a proposal on enhancing Indonesia-Australia economic diplomacy by synergizing the Northern Territory with Indonesia's eastern provinces.^[1] Andre also explored cooperation opportunities through young professional network and maritime linkages between Indonesia and Australia.^[4] In 2015, Andre on behalf of the government received four purebred Riverine buffalo from the Northern Territory government to Indonesia, which was gifted to increase husbandry productivity and strengthen bilateral relationship.^[5]

After his service in Darwin, Andre was sworn in as director of Asia, Pacific, and Africa intracooperation and intercooperation on 12 January 2018.^[6] Andre was involved in Indonesia's presence at various regional multilateral forums such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association^[7] and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.^[8] He led the Indonesia delegation to the 8th Bi-Annual IORA Committee of Senior Officials Meeting in July 2018^[9] and the Digital Economy Steering Group (DESG) APEC in July 2020.^[8]

Upon concluding his tenure as director, Andre was then sworn in as the consul general in Houston on 7 December 2020.^[10] He began his duties in February 2021. In this consular post, he worked on a collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and BioFarma to develop a Covid-19 vaccine and an agreement between Pertamina and ExxonMobil, while also promoting the G20 agenda in the US, as Indonesia was chairing the forum in 2022.^[2] After three years of service, he departed his post in June 2024. He was then reassigned to the 2nd America directorate.