Santo Darmosumarto

Santo Darmosumarto
Ambassador of Indonesia to Cambodia
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 June 2023
Preceded by	Sudirman Haseng
Personal details
Born	(1975-01-30) January 30, 1975 Jakarta, Indonesia
Spouse	Nansy Sentana
Education	University of British Columbia University of Victoria Monash University

Santo Darmosumarto (born 30 January 1975) is an Indonesian diplomat who is currently the ambassador to of Cambodia. Prior to his ambassadorship, he served as chief of media relations and spokesperson section and director for East Asia within the foreign ministry.

Santo was born in Jakarta on 30 January 1975. Upon completing high school at the Sir Winston Churchill High School, Santo pursued his bachelor's degree in international relations at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1997.^[1] He then continued his education at the University of Victoria, receiving his master of arts in political sciences in 1999.^[2] From 2001, he pursued his doctorate in international relations at the Monash University School of Political and Social Inquiry, which he received in 2004. His thesis, titled Chinese foreign policy towards Southeast Asia in the post-Tiananmen period, 1989-1995, was advised by Dennis Woodward.^[3] During his doctorate studies, Santo became a teaching assistant for courses on international relations and Australian foreign policy.^[4]

Santo joined the foreign department in 2000. Upon receiving his doctorate, Santo served at the political section Indonesian embassy in Beijing from 2005 to 2009 with the rank of third, and later second secretary.^[5] He returned for his second stint at the embassy as coordinator for socio-cultural affairs with the rank of counsellor from 2014 to 2018.^[6][7] During his posting in China, Santo was directly involved in Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, and published a number of Chinese-related article. Santo views Indonesia’s engagement with China’s BRI as a strategic and pragmatic move and supported the notion of Indonesia employing a hedging strategy to balance between cooperation and caution.^[8]

Between his two postings in China, Santo served as the deputy assistant to the presidential advisor (special staff) for international affairs, Teuku Faizasyah. During his tenure, Santo criticized the lack of attention given by the general populace to Indonesia’s foreign policy under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.^[9] He also became an associate researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) and The Habibie Center, as well as an adjunct professor at the Sampoerna School of Bussiness and the Paramadina University Graduate School of Diplomacy.^[1][4]

After serving in China, Santo was assigned at the strategic support bureau (more commonly known as the foreign minister's chief of staff office), serving as the chief of media relations and spokesperson section.^[10] In his capacity, Santo was responsible for preparing and coordinating materials, and providing both substantive and technical support to the foreign minister, deputy minister, and the minister's chief of staff (who also acted as the minister's spokesperson).^[11][12] Upon serving there, on 22 April 2019 Santo assumed duties as the director for East Asia and Pacific in the foreign ministry.^[13] In 2021, the Pacific section of the directorate was established as its own directorate in line with the government's Pacific elevation policy, thus renaming Santo's position into the director of East Asia.^[14]

In December 2022, Santo was nominated as ambassador to Cambodia by President Joko Widodo.^[15] After passing an assessment by the house of representative's first commission the next month,^[16] he officially assumed office on 26 June 2023.^[17] Santo presented his credentials to King Norodom Sihamoni on 18 October 2023.^[18][19] He conducted his first courtesy call to Prime Minister Hun Manet on 10 January 2024, highlighting the need for the two countries to further build a mutually beneficial cooperation.^[20][21] On 10 October 2024, Darmosumarto was awarded the Prima Duta Award by President Joko Widodo for the Embassy's achievement in boosting trade cooperation between Indonesia and Cambodia.^[22][23]

On 29 August 2024, Darmosumarto and Royal Cambodian Army Chief General Mao Sophoan presided over the delivery of military assistance from Indonesia to Cambodia amounting to USD 500.000.^[24][25] The assistance consisted of 150 pieces of SS2-V5 A1 assault rifles, 20 pieces of G2 Elite pistols, 500,000 rounds of 5.56 x 45 mm bullets, and 500,000 rounds of 9 x 19mm bullets. The weapons and munitions were produced by Indonesian state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad.^[26][27]

One of the embassy's major work was addressing the significant and growing issue of Indonesian citizens involved in online gambling and scam operations in Cambodia. According to Santo, most of the growing number of Indonesian citizens of Indonesia was not accompanied work permits and reporting to the embasy, suggesting many are in the country illegally or involved in unregulated work. Under Santo, the embassy was involved in handling thousands of cases relating to online scams. He described the handling of the cases as "the most complicated, dangerous, and time-consuming task".^[28][29][30] The embassy also collaborated with the Cambodian authority on rescuing and repatriating Indonesian citizens caught in scam operations and sharing best practices.^[31]