Singapore, RI sign pact

Singapore, RI sign pact

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore and Indonesia signed a pact Tuesday formalizing the setting up of a key joint military training facility to mark 25 years of bilateral naval cooperation, officials said.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was for the development and use of a naval gun-firing training facility on Kayu Ara island, part of Indonesia's Riau island chain near Singapore.

The facility, known as the "naval gunfire scoring system", was installed in June 1998.

The MOU was signed by Indonesia's navy chief of staff Achmad Sutjipto and Singapore's chief of navy Lui Tuck Yew on the Indonesian island of Batam, just south of Singapore, according to a joint statement by the defense ministries of both nations.

Singapore and Indonesia conduct joint exercises and undertake joint patrols to combat piracy as part of their naval cooperation.