RI, Poland agree to boost military ties

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and Poland agreed on Tuesday to enhance cooperation in the manufacture of military equipment, including possible joint production of weaponry and other related items.

Visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski also offered a US$135 million credit facility to Indonesia to buy defense equipment from his country.

"In the defense sector, we agreed that the cooperation will not stop at the purchase of military equipment. We also expect to see joint production and design of military equipment," President Megawati Soekarnoputri said in a joint media briefing with Kwasniewski.

The heads of state also witnessed the signing of a joint declaration on military cooperation between the two countries.

Kwasniewski said military cooperation was among the potential fields that could be developed further between the two countries in the future.

Ministry of Defense secretary-general Vice Air Marshall Suprihadi, meanwhile, said the credit facility would be used to buy defense equipment for the National Police and the Navy.

However, he said that the government had yet to decide on the items to purchase with the $135 million credit facility.

President Kwasniewski arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day state visit as part of his Southeast Asia tour, which also took him to Singapore and Thailand.

The trip was a return visit in reply to Megawati's tour to Poland last year to seek alternative military sources in the face of a military embargo imposed by the United States since 1999.

In December last year, the National Police signed a contract with Polish aeronautics company PZL Swidnik to buy 11 MI-2 helicopters.

Suprihadi said the two countries would also begin to exchange military officers for training and education purposes.

Kwasniewski is the first Polish president to visit Indonesia in more than four decades. The two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations next year.

He said the visit aimed at ensuring that Poland would not neglect Asian countries even after its entry into the European Union in May 2004.

"We consider Asian countries, especially Indonesia, as important partners for Poland, and there is a lot of potential that can be developed between the two countries," he said in the media briefing.

Megawati also sought the support of the visiting president for the nomination of Indonesian activist Syamsiah Achmad as the UN special envoy for the elimination of discrimination against women.

Kwasniewski is also slated to hold a meeting with People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representative Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

He will also attend an economic forum and make a short visit to Taman Mini Indonesian Indah on Wednesday.

On Thursday, he will leave Jakarta for Bangkok, Thailand, the last leg of his Southeast Asia trip.