President Jokowi Discusses Defense Industry with Angela Merkel
17 November 2014 10:02 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo on Sunday, November 16, 2014 had a bilateral talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and both leaders discussed a number of issues, including cooperation in the defense industries.
"Both leaders mainly talked about defense industries. They also talked about some other issues such as infrastructures issues, maritime issues, ISIS, and climate change," Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said in Brisbane, Australia, on Sunday.
Andi also said that Indonesia hoped that cooperation with Germany would later be translated in transfer of technology.
"However, what makes cooperation with Germany different from cooperation with other countries is the cooperation in the defense industries as we have purchased Leopard from German and later we also expect transfer of technology from Germany to Indonesia,” he added.
The emphasis on the cooperation in the defense sector, Andi said, is in the form of defense industries related to the maritime sector, for example the manufacturing of submarines.
"Germany is still leading in the submarine industries. However, the leaders only talked about generalities,” he said.
After having a bilateral talk with the Germany Chancellor, President Joko Widodo also met with French President Francois Hollande and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
ANANDA TERESIA