Indonesia, Turkey Sign Various Cooperation Deals

President Jokowi and President Erdogan deliver a joint press statement at the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara, on Thursday (6/7)

Indonesia and Turkey are two countries which have huge cooperation potentials to develop, according to President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.

Therefore, during his working visit to Turkey, the President conveyed a number of areas for concrete and prioritized cooperation to his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including cooperation on trade and investment, defense, energy, and counter-terrorism.

“We have agreed to bring positive trends in trade and investment including through conducting negotiation of Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IT-CEPA), reducing or removing trade barriers and creating conducive investment climate,” President Jokowi said in a joint press statement with President Erdogan at the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara, on Thursday (6/7).

President Jokowi added that Indonesia welcomes the concrete results of defense industry cooperation with the launch of medium weight tank “Kaplan” co-produced by Indonesian state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara and Turkish Aerospace Industry.

“We also agreed to enhance cooperation on submarine and drone production, which will be followed up by the teams of both countries,” President Jokowi added.

Regarding the strengthening of cooperation on energy sector, President Jokowi asserted that the cooperation is focused on the fulfillment of electricity needs for small islands across Indonesia through the use of ‘power ship’ or floating power plan.

In addition to bilateral issues, President Jokowi said that the meeting also discussed several global issues, including those related to Qatar issue. “We hope this issue will be solved through communication among related countries,” the President further said.

Concerning the issue of counterterrorism, President Jokowi asserted that Indonesia and Turkey have enhanced cooperation on intelligence data sharing and also have established an IT system in the field of intelligence to make it easier for both countries to combat terrorism.

Concluding his statement, President Jokowi appreciated Turkey’s support for Indonesia’s nomination as a member of the United Nations Security Council for the period of  2019-2020. The President also welcomed the signing of cooperation documents between Indonesia and Turkey. “I appreciate the signing of two cooperation documents between the Government of Indonesia and Turkey namely on health cooperation and the launching of Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IT-CEPA),” President Jokowi said.

In the meantime, President Erdogan asserted that Indonesia and Turkey share a long history, culture, and relation between their people. “I hope this can be an asset to strengthen our cooperation,” President Erdogan said.

Accompanying President Jokowi during the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita, Head of Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Thomas Lembong, and Head of National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Suhardi Alius. (DAN/ES) (RA/EP/YM/Naster)