Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Chairman Bambang Soesatyo has encouraged to intensify cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey in the areas of defense industry and technology development that had been in place since 2010.
Soesatyo believes that the intent to bolster this cooperation was apparent from the frequency of visits undertaken by the Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto to Turkey for four consecutive times during the period from mid-2019 to 2020.
"Through a series of visits by the Indonesian minister of defense, the commitment of both parties has resulted in strengthening and developing defense industry cooperation, starting from research and development, joint production and marketing, to purchase, maintenance, and capacity building," Soesatyo noted in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday.
The chairman delivered the statement during a working visit to the Strategic Industry Center of the FNSS Defense System in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday (Nov 3).
Bambang elaborated that one of the reasons behind Turkey being selected for cooperation in the defense industry was the background of longstanding sound relations between both nations.
The chairman remarked that Indonesia was also cognizant of Turkey's potential resources, including through the FNSS, as well as opportunities for cooperation based on the principle of mutual respect and a mutually beneficial cooperation scheme for both parties.
"The focus on meeting the requirements for domestic defense equipment and self-reliance of the national defense industry in Indonesia is in line with the mandate of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 16 of 2012 on the Defense Industry," he pointed out.
Soesatyo expounded that the cooperation between the Indonesian defense industry and Turkey had a stronger legal basis through Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19 of 2014 on Ratification of the Agreement on Defense Industry Cooperation between the Governments of Indonesia and the Republic of Turkey.
The chairman noted that one of the forms of cooperation agreed upon between Turkey and Indonesia was the development of medium tanks called Tiger Tanks, with specifications, including weighing some 20-40 tons, equipped with a 90-105 mm caliber canon, and operability in swamps and seas, thereby aligning with Indonesia’s on-field conditions.
"The MPR RI is optimistic that the strengthening of cooperation in the defense industry between FNSS and PT Pindad would be maintained and developed so that it becomes an impetus for increasing forms of cooperation in other defense industry fields," he stated.
Soesatyo noted that the defense industry will also continue to develop in line with the technological advancements, for which expediting the mastery of defense technology was deemed a necessity.
The chairman explained that this encompassed being watchful for opportunities to utilize drone or drone technology not only for the national defense industry but also for boosting other economic activities, such as supporting food estates, village development, and supervision of the fisheries and marine sectors.
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