The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and Turkey met and discussed cooperation between the two countries, including bilateral strategic agreements.
Retno Marsudi met with Hakan Fidan, discusses partnership
Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno and Hakan Fidan met during a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries and partners on July 15, 2023.
Retno discussed a number of issues such as the production and distribution of electric buses, natural gas cooperation, the construction of the Trans Sumatra toll road, and investment in the wood processing industry in Sumatra.
“I invite the Turkish private sector to choose Indonesia as an industrial hub for the Asia-Pacific market and a source of industrial raw materials,” said Retno.
Meanwhile, the two countries discussed continuing the implementation of the bilateral strategic agreement between the government and business actors that was signed in November 2022 in Bali, in the fields of defense, forestry, environment, research-technology and innovation.
On the other hand, Indonesia and Turkey have formed a High-Level Strategic Council (HLSC) in 2022, to regularly discuss various bilateral, regional and multilateral strategic issues.
Cooperation in the field of aviation and religion
Then, there were discussions about Turkey to increase cooperation in the aviation sector with Indonesia.
“There is high demand for Turkish Airlines flights to Indonesia. We are discussing ways to strengthen our cooperation in the aviation sector,” said Fidan.
Meanwhile, the discussion on the importance of fighting terrorism and transnational crimes, including Islamophobia, and desecration of the holy book of the Koran.
Collaboration in the defense industry
Finally, the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fidan with the Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto to discuss the defense sector.
“I see that there are still many areas and areas of defense cooperation that can be utilized by the two countries in the future. This must be increased in order to build mutual trust and increase the capacity of the armed forces and the defense industry sector of the two countries,” said Prabowo.
Currently, Indonesia has research and development cooperation in the defense sector. Cooperation in the development of radio defense software between Aselsan from Türkiye and PT Wellracom Megah Jaya and PT Lembaga Elektronika Nasional (LEN).
As well as cooperation in the development of the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) between FNSS from Türkiye and PT Industry TNI Darat (PINDAD). Meanwhile, cooperation to increase the capacity of the defense industry.
