Australia, Indonesia to tie up on transport

Australia, Indonesia to tie up on transport

CANBERRA (AFP): In another sign of closer bilateral ties,
Australia announced yesterday an agreement with Indonesia to
increase cooperation on transport issues, including transport
infrastructure development and aviation security.

Transport Minister Laurie Brereton said a memorandum of
understanding signed this week with Indonesian Minister of
Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, demonstrated Australia's
commitment to developing further cooperative links on transport
issues.

"Transport infrastructure development, safety and efficiency
are critical to both our countries," Brereton said in a
statement.

"As close neighbors, it is important that we cooperate on
transport issues."

Among other issues in the framework agreement are moves toward
electronic commerce in maritime transport, air safety accident
and incident investigation, education and training, and research
and development.

The agreement followed a call by Haryanto to foreign
enterprises, including Australian companies, to bid for up to 11
billion U.S. dollars of transport infrastructure development in
Indonesia over the next five years.

Addressing a trade conference in Melbourne on Tuesday,
Haryanto, who has special responsibility for non-road
infrastructure development such as ports and airports, said his
government wanted investment through joint ventures with state-
owned companies.

Australia is currently the seventh largest investor in
Indonesia in terms of the number of projects, although investment
is still largely concentrated in the mining sector.