Indonesia Wants to Continue Defense Equipment Cooperation with Japan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia is keen to continue its defense cooperation with Japan in the areas of development and technology transfer for the main weapon system equipment (alutsista), Indonesia’s top defense official said.

“We are optimistic that the technology transfer cooperation would go according to plan, and we would produce qualified primary weapon systems for both countries in the future,” Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said in a statement received on Wednesday, June 22.

Prabowo met with his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi in a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday, June 21.

Previously, Indonesia and Japan signed an agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technology in March 2021 during a meeting called "2+2" between Minister Prabowo and Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi with Minister Kishi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo, Japan.

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Prabowo said that in an effort to modernize defense equipment and master the latest military technology, the Defense Ministry had shifted its policy from defense spending to defense investment.

To do so, Prabowo went on to say that Indonesia has collaborated with several countries.

“Indonesia is determined to produce its own defense equipment in the future,” Prabowo said.
The minister also expressed his gratitude for Minister Kishi’s active role in supporting the relations between both nations in the defense field, maintaining the relations to run well in the future.

“Hopefully, there will be new initiatives and steps that can be taken into consideration by the two governments for the sustainability of mutually beneficial defense cooperation in the near future,” Prabowo said.

In response to Subianto’s statement, Kishi invited Prabowo to visit Tokyo to further discuss efforts to improve and strengthen defense cooperation between Indonesia and Japan.

The meeting between the two ministers took place on the sidelines of the 16th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) on June 21-22, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

(Writer: Achmad Nasrudin Yahya | Editor: Icha Rastika)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2022/06/22/13092121/bertemu-menhan-jepang-prabowo-ingin-pengembangan-alih-teknologi-alutsista?page=all#page2.