Modern medicine cooperation with Canberra proposed
Modern medicine cooperation with Canberra proposed
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
Habibie has called for Indonesia and Australia to cooperate in
the field of modern medical science.
Speaking during a visit to the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute
of Medical Research in Melbourne, Habibie specifically proposed
cooperation in the bio-molecular field, given that both countries
already have the necessary research facilities, Antara reported
yesterday.
He told the executives and research staff of the institute, a
unit of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, that Indonesia has made the
leap into modern technology and is now "thirsty and hungry" for
more science and knowledge.
The Indonesian minister, who also chairs the Agency for the
Research and Application of Technology (BPPT), is currently on a
10-day visit to Australia, which the Australian press has called
a turning point in relations between the two countries.
Despite the political significance attached by the local
press, the minister has confined his agenda chiefly to issues of
research and technology. He has visited a hospital and an
aeronautical and maritime laboratory in Melbourne as well as a
submarine manufacturing plant in Adelaide.
Habibie, who began touring Australia in Perth last Sunday, is
the president of the Indonesian aircraft manufacturing firm PT
IPTN and also the head of the shipbuilding company PT PAL. In
addition, he is the chairman of the Board of Strategic
Industries.
Habibie's entourage of around 50 people includes leaders from
his agencies as well as officials and public figures from
Indonesia's eastern provinces.
At the Melbourne hospital's research center, Habibie visited
facilities involved in the research of cancer, heart transplants,
kidney transplants and the development of a malaria vaccine.
The 80-year-old institution is leading the world in the bio-
molecular field, an area Indonesia is trying to develop through
the Eijkman Institute, which is under Habibie's BPPT.
On Wednesday, during a visit to the Aeronautical and Maritime
Research Laboratory, Habibie proposed cooperating in engineering
design to convert Helicopter transport carriers into commercial
planes, according to Antara.
Habibie, an aeronautical engineering graduate, explained to
his host that the idea for the modification of the Hercules
planes came from Indonesia, and has already been approved by the
United States' Federal Aviation Authority.
He added that Indonesia is already conducting the work, with
orders coming not only from domestic carriers, but also from
Africa and the Middle East.
On Tuesday, Habibie visited the Australian Submarine
Corporation plant in Osborne, Adelaide, to glimpse the production
of the Collins submarines used by the Royal Australian Navy.
Australia has been pushing hard to sell the submarines to a
number of Asian countries.
Hans J. Ohff, the chief executive officer of the submarine
company, gave a run down of the specifications of the vessel
during the plant's tour.
He said that the 3,000 dead-weight-ton submarine is 78 meters
long and has a diameter of eight meters. It can carry 42 crew
members and can be armed with torpedoes and Harpoon missiles
which can be fired from underwater. (emb)