Jakarta – Indonesia is ready to finalized cooperation plans with Turkey related to the development of a primary weaponry system (Alutsista).
According to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the issue was discussed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting at the presidential palace on Friday.
The government has appointed state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad to execute the cooperation plans.
"We haven't yet talk about Turkey's investment commitment in the Alutsista development cooperation. But of course we will soon discuss matters related to the joint venture," said Kalla as quoted by kompas.com on Saturday.
Jokowi stated on Friday that one of the issues discussed with Erdogan was the eradication of terrorism, which involved a discussion about the Islamic State (IS).
According to Jokowi, the two countries are ready to increase cooperation in intelligence. He also revealed plans to place Indonesian intelligence officers in Turkey.
PT Pindad previously cooperated with other countries to develop Alutsista. It has plans to develop a medium tank with Turkey's FNSS Defence Systems. The latter will provide training for PT Pindad employees to design and produce the tank.
The first tank prototype will be produced in Turkey with the participation of PT Pindad engineers. The second prototype will be produced in Indonesia by PT Pindad. (edn/kes)(+++