Joint team to follow up RI-Czech agreements
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Wednesday that Indonesia and the Czech Republic would form a joint commission to follow up talks over cooperation between the military and in the agriculture industry.
The agreement to set up the joint commission followed Megawati's meeting with Czech President Vaclav Havel.
"We agreed to improve communication between the two countries by setting up a joint commission to follow up on the understandings reached," Megawati was quoted by Antara in Prague, Czech.
She said the two countries would promote cooperation in the purchase and supply of military equipment.
She gave no details on the type of equipment. But earlier, Director General of Defense Strategy at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said the military cooperation might involve the production of electronic equipment, explosives, aircraft, firearms and small- and medium-caliber ammunition.
Indonesia is also eying military equipment from Slovakia, which until the early nineties was part of the Czechoslovakia Republic.
Due to a U.S. military embargo, Indonesia is looking for alternatives in the European arms industry.
Some of Indonesia's U.S. military products, such as the sophisticated yet costly F-16 fighter jets, are now idle due to the absence of spare parts.
A tight military budget also forces Indonesia to look to Eastern Europe where former communist countries own cheaper but advanced weaponry.
In the agri-industrial field, Megawati said Indonesia's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Czech company Skoda were exploring cooperation to improve the production capacity of Indonesian sugar mills.
The local sugar industry has been hit by an influx of imported sugar, hurting producers with low prices. The government believes sugar mills operate inefficiently.
Megawati left Czech for Slovakia on Wednesday.
Slovakia is the last stop in Megawati's 14-day Europe tour covering also Italy, Britain and Austria. She is scheduled to return on Saturday.