Indonesia Pushes for Joint Production of Defense Equipment with France

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia continues to intensify defense cooperation with France to not only be limited to the trade of military equipment but also technology transfer, joint development, and joint production of defense equipment.

Foreign Minister and Defense Minister of Indonesia and France held a 2+2 meeting in Paris on Friday, July 21, 2023.

Along with Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.

"This (cooperation) is important to build Indonesia's strategic autonomy," Marsudi stated in her video statement on Friday.

She emphasized the need for this cooperation to make Indonesia part of the global supply chain for strategic industries.

"For this reason, I encourage the implementation of joint ventures and joint production cooperation between Thales and PT Len Industri," she remarked.

Thales Group is a French multinational company that designs, develops, and manufactures devices and equipment for the aerospace, defense, and security sectors.

PT Len Industri is a state-owned enterprise that develops products in the field of electronics for the defense industry, among others.

During the 2+2 meeting, Marsudi also expressed Indonesia's keenness to cooperate in maritime security, including support for technology transfer and capacity-building assistance by France to the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla RI).

In addition, Indonesia pushed for collaboration in the field of cybersecurity through cooperation between the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) and the defense industry Thales.

ANTARA

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